I’ll admit I’m new to personally having a likely soy (or other) allergy. Doctor’s visit pending.
But my mind is completely blown that products derived from allergens are not required to disclose the source.
Are there any movements out there for better food labeling? The sheer amount of items that contain soybean oil/etc and are not listed as containing soy are mind boggling.
We have a right to know ALL ingredients.

Current Roster: (12/15 roster spots filled)

• PG: Fred VanVleet, Amen Thompson
• SG: Jalen Green, Cam Whitmore
• SF: Dillon Brooks, Tari Eason, Jae'Sean Tate*
• PF: Jabari Smith, Jeff Green*
• C: Alperen Sengun, Steven Adams, Jock Landale*

*Team Option/Non-Guaranteed contracts
Upcoming Free Agents:

• Unrestricted: Aaron Holiday(G), Reggie Bullock (G/F), Boban Marjanovic (C)
• Non-Guaranteed Contracts: Jock Landale (C)
• Team Options: Jae'Sean Tate (G/F), Jeff Green (F)
• Restricted: Nate Hinton (G/F), Jermaine Samuels (F), Nate Williams (F)

Offseason Finances: "Houston will enter the offseason with $121.7 million in guaranteed salary but is over the $141 million cap because of $25 million in non-guaranteed contracts (Tate, Jeff Green and Jock Landale).... The Rockets will have access to the $12.9 million non-taxpayer midlevel exception and $4.7 million biannual exception to use in free agency or acquire a player in a trade. The Rockets also have a $4.5 million trade exception." (Source: Bobby Marks at ESPN)
Handling the Non-Guaranteed Contracts: Considering the Rockets don't gain significant cap space by waiving Jeff, Tate, and Jock I expect them all to be retained for next year. They provide valuable depth, and at the very least can be used to match salaries in any potential deadline day deals. Retaining all three brings the total number of roster spots up to 12 out of a possible 15.
Team Needs: These needs are more subjective and based upon retaining the players mentioned above. These team needs could also be filled through the draft, but for now I'll just focus on potential free agents.

• Perimeter Shooting: 3 point shooting was one of this team's biggest weaknesses last year and fixing that should be a priority this off-season. IMO, adding someone who could shoot off movement (aka pin downs and flare screens) would add another dimension to our offense that would be really useful. At minimum though, we need more great spot-up shooters.
• Third String PG: I still consider Amen our point guard of the future, but he played most of last season as a wing and him being our only real PG behind FVV should be a concern. A 3rd string player who could come in and play back-up in the event of an injury to FVV or Amen is a big team need.

Free Agency Targets: Based on the needs above, I've provided a list of players who we could potentially use our $12.9 million non-taxpayer MLE and $4.7 million biannual exception on in free agency. Again, the team needs mentioned above could also be filled through the draft, but for now I'm just focusing on potential free agents signings.

• Luke Kennard (SG, Team Option): If Memphis rejects Luke's team option, the Rockets should pounce as he is one of the best movement shooters in the NBA. Over the past four years he has hit 46% of his 3s on high volume, with many being quick release shots off screens. If available, he's my favorite option to go after. Watch how he destroyed us with 10 threes just last year .
• Buddy Hield (SG, UFA/Bird): Buddy took a step back as a player this year, but he's still one of the premier shooters in the NBA, shooting 39% from 3. The Sixers have bird rights, so they can re-sign him while going over the cap which is probably something they'll be interested in doing. If Philly doesn't re-sign him though, he should definitely be a target for the Rockets if he's willing to accept the MLE. I think this signing is unlikely as there are a lot of "if"s involved for it to happen.
• Malik Beasley (SG, UFA/Non-Bird): Beasley was a knockdown shooter this past year hitting 41% of his threes and would help improve our spacing immensely. His defense leaves a bit to be desired though, but that's the trade-off when going bargain-bin hunting with the MLE. A solid option nevertheless, and probably the guy easiest to obtain considering he's a UFA without Bird rights.
• Gary Harris (SG, UFA/Bird): Orlando also needs shooting, so they probably retain him with bird rights, but if available Gary Harris is another solid shooter who has hit 39% of his 3s over the past 4 years while also providing solid defense.
• Doug McDermott (SF, UFA/Bird): Another knockdown shooter who is capable of quick release shots coming off screens. That's a very useful skillset in today's NBA, but he's an absolutely horrible defender and I can't imagine Ime giving him a ton of leeway to stay on the court. A potential option, but not one of my favorites.
• Aaron Holiday (PG, UFA/Non-Bird): Someone every Rockets fan should be familiar with. He fits perfectly into that 3rd string PG role as a capable shooter and defender. Hopefully, we can retain him with the biannual exception of $4.7 million, but his play this year and good shooting may have bumped him beyond that price range. It's very possibly that the only way we retain him is through the MLE.
• Delon Wright (PG, UFA/Non-Bird): A steady vet presence (32 years old) who would be an extremely capable back-up PG when called upon. He plays great defense, has good size at the position at 6'5'', and is a reliable 3point shooter (37% over the past 5 years). I think he's someone Ime would love to have on the team.
• Jordan Goodwin (PG, RFA/Two-Way): A solid PG who put in a good shift for the hospital Grizzlies as a hard nosed defender. His shooting leaves a bit to be desired though (career 31% 3pt shooter), so for that reason, I think there are better options.

In this post, we will cover the answers of TryHackMe Breaching Active Directory room in addition to demonstrating the concepts of Active Directory Penetration Testing.
Complete room answers can be found here.

Active Directory Credential Harvesting Methods

Before we can exploit AD misconfigurations for privilege escalation, lateral movement, and goal execution, you need initial access first. You need to acquire an initial set of valid AD credentials. Due to the number of AD services and features, the attack surface for gaining an initial set of AD credentials is usually significant.
When looking for that first set of credentials, we don’t focus on the permissions associated with the account; thus, even a low-privileged account would be sufficient. We are just looking for a way to authenticate to AD, allowing us to do further enumeration on AD itself.
The following techniques to recover AD credentials in a network:

• NTLM Authenticated Services
• LDAP Bind Credentials
• Authentication Relays
• Microsoft Deployment Toolkit
• Configuration Files

Understanding NTLM andNetNTLM

The set of security protocols called New Technology LAN Manager (NTLM) is what allows users to validate their identities in Active Directory. NetNTLM is a challenge-response-based method that leverages NTLM for authentication. The services on a network make extensive use of this authentication technique. NetNTLM-using services, however, may also be open to the internet. Listed below are a few well-known examples:

• Exchange (Mail) servers hosted internally that provide an Outlook Web App (OWA) login page.
• A server’s Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) service that is available over the internet.
• VPN endpoints that were connected to AD were made public.
• Web apps that use NetNTLM and are accessible over the internet.

NetNTLM, also often referred to as Windows Authentication or just NTLM Authentication, allows the application to play the role of a middle man between the client and AD. When a challenge is successfully performed, all authentication material is sent to a Domain Controller, and the application will authenticate the user.
This means that the application is authenticating on behalf of the user and not authenticating the user directly on the application itself. This prevents the application from storing AD credentials, which should only be stored on a Domain Controller.

Credentials Brute Force Attacks on Active Directory

These exposed services offer a great place to test credentials that have been found in other ways. To retrieve a first set of legitimate AD credentials, these services can also be accessed directly. If during our first red team recon we were able to recover information like working email addresses, we might try using these for brute force attacks.
We won’t be able to conduct a full brute-force attack because account lockout is implemented in the majority of AD environments. Rather, we must execute a password-spraying attack. Rather than trying a number of different passwords, which could set off the account lockout mechanism, we select one password, utilize it, and try to authenticate with every username we have collected. It should be mentioned, though, that because of how many unsuccessful authentication attempts these attacks will produce, they can be identified and detected.

Task Description

You have been provided with a list of usernames discovered during a red team OSINT exercise. The OSINT exercise also indicated the organisation’s initial onboarding password, which seems to be “Changeme123”. Although users should always change their initial password, we know that users often forget. We will be using a custom-developed script to stage a password spraying against the web application hosted at this URL: http://ntlmauth.za.tryhackme.com.
If you are using the AttackBox, the password spraying script and usernames textfile is provided under the /root/Rooms/BreachingAD/task3/ directory. We can run the script using the following command:
python ntlm_passwordspray.py -u -f -p -a
We provide the following values for each of the parameters:

• — Textfile containing our usernames — “usernames.txt”
• — Fully qualified domain name associated with the organisation that we are attacking — “za.tryhackme.com”
• — The password we want to use for our spraying attack — “Changeme123”
• — The URL of the application that supports Windows Authentication — “http://ntlmauth.za.tryhackme.com”

LDAP Pass-back Attack

NTLM authentication and LDAP authentication are comparable. On the other hand, the program authenticates the user’s credentials directly while using LDAP authentication. The program can query LDAP using its pair of AD credentials before confirming the credentials of the AD user.
Below services are example of services that use LDAP authentication

• Gitlab
• Jenkins
• Custom-developed web applications
• Printers
• VPNs

If you could gain a foothold on the correct host, such as a Gitlab server, it might be as simple as reading the configuration files to recover these AD credentials. These credentials are often stored in plain text in configuration files since the security model relies on keeping the location and storage configuration file secure rather than its contents.
LDAP Pass-back attacks can be performed when we gain access to a device’s configuration where the LDAP parameters are specified. This can be, for example, the web interface of a network printer. Usually, the credentials for these interfaces are kept to the default ones, such as admin:admin or admin:password .
Here, we won’t be able to directly extract the LDAP credentials since the password is usually hidden. However, we can alter the LDAP configuration, such as the IP or hostname of the LDAP server.
In an LDAP Pass-back attack, we can modify this IP to our IP and then test the LDAP configuration, which will force the device to attempt LDAP authentication to our rogue device. We can intercept this authentication attempt to recover the LDAP credentials.

Task Description

There is a network printer in this network where the administration website does not even require credentials. Navigate to http://printer.za.tryhackme.com/settings.aspx to find the settings page of the printer.
You can follow through with the room to execute this task’s commands and get the answers shown below.

Understanding Server Message Block (SMB)

Clients (like workstations) and servers (like file shares) can communicate with each other over the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol. SMB controls everything in networks that make use of Microsoft AD, including remote administration and file sharing across networks. The SMB protocol is even responsible for the “out of paper” notification that appears on your computer when you attempt to print a document.
Nevertheless, it was determined that earlier iterations of the SMB protocol lacked adequate security. Numerous flaws and exploits that might be used to obtain code execution on devices or even retrieve credentials were found. Despite the fact that some of these vulnerabilities have been fixed in more recent protocol versions, organizations frequently do not mandate the use of these versions because outdated systems do not support them. We’ll examine two distinct attacks for SMB-based NetNTLM authentication:

• Since the NTLM Challenges can be intercepted, we can use offline cracking techniques to recover the password associated with the NTLM Challenge. However, this cracking process is significantly slower than cracking NTLM hashes directly.
• We can use our rogue device to stage a man in the middle attack, relaying the SMB authentication between the client and server, which will provide us with an active authenticated session and access to the target server.

Attacking Microsoft Deployment Toolkit

One Microsoft service that helps with automating the deployment of Microsoft Operating Systems (OS) is Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT). Since base images can be updated and maintained centrally, large organizations employ services like MDT to help deploy new images in their estate more efficiently.
The System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) from Microsoft, which controls all updates for all Microsoft services, operating systems, and apps, is typically connected with MDT. For fresh deployments, MDT is employed. In essence, it enables boot image preconfiguration and management for the IT staff. As a result, all users have to do to configure a new system is plug in a network wire; the rest happens on its own. They have the ability to modify the boot image in a number of ways, including pre-installing Office 365 and the preferred antivirus program for the company. Additionally, it may guarantee that the first installation to run uses the upgraded build.
One may consider SCCM to be MDT’s older brother and practically an extension of it. After the software is installed, what happens to it? In any case, SCCM handles this kind of patching. It enables all software installed throughout the estate to have its available upgrades reviewed by the IT team. Prior to centrally delivering these changes to every machine that has joined the domain, the team can additionally test them in a sandbox setting to make sure they are reliable. The IT team’s life is much made easier by it.
On the other hand, attackers may target anything that offers central management of infrastructure, such MDT and SCCM, in an effort to seize control of significant amounts of vital tasks within the estate. While there are other ways to setup MDT, for the sake of this job, we will only be focusing on a configuration known as Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) boot.
PXE boot is used by large organizations to enable new devices connected to the network to load and install the operating system directly over a network connection. PXE boot images can be created, managed, and hosted using MDT. Since PXE boot is typically integrated with DHCP, the host is permitted to request the PXE boot image and begin the network operating system installation procedure if DHCP grants an IP lease.
After the procedure is finished, the client will download the PXE boot image over a TFTP connection. The PXE boot image can be used for two distinct purposes:
After the PXE boot is finished, inject a privilege escalation vector, like a Local Administrator account, to obtain Administrative access to the OS. Use password scraping techniques to obtain the AD credentials that were used for the installation.

Task Description

The first piece of information regarding the PXE Boot preconfigure you would have received via DHCP is the IP of the MDT server. In our case, you can recover that information from the TryHackMe network diagram.
The second piece of information you would have received was the names of the BCD files. These files store the information relevant to PXE Boots for the different types of architecture. To retrieve this information, you will need to connect to this website: http://pxeboot.za.tryhackme.com. It will list various BCD files:
Usually, you would use TFTP to request each of these BCD files and enumerate the configuration for all of them. However, in the interest of time, we will focus on the BCD file of the x64 architecture. Copy and store the full name of this file. For the rest of this exercise, we will be using this name placeholder x64{7B...B3}.bcd since the files and their names are regenerated by MDT every day. Each time you see this placeholder, remember to replace it with your specific BCD filename. Note as well that if the network has just started, these file names will only update after 10 mintes of the network being active.
With this initial information now recovered from DHCP (wink wink), we can enumerate and retrieve the PXE Boot image. We will be using our SSH connection on THMJMP1 for the next couple of steps, so please authenticate to this SSH session using the following:
ssh thm@THMJMP1.za.tryhackme.com
and the password of Password1@ .
Follow along with the room’s instructions so that you get the answers shown below

Harvesting Active Directory Credentials from Config Files

Suppose you were lucky enough to cause a breach that gave you access to a host on the organisation’s network. In that case, configuration files are an excellent avenue to explore in an attempt to recover AD credentials.
Below configuration files usually contain many AD credentials.

• Web application config files
• Service configuration files
• Registry keys
• Centrally deployed applications

For example, McAfee embeds the credentials used during installation to connect back to the orchestrator in a file called ma.db. This database file can be retrieved and read with local access to the host to recover the associated AD service account and with below command we can open the database file
sqlitebrowser ma.db

Room Answers

Complete room answers can be found here.

Free Active Directory Penetration Testing Training

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLqM63j87R5p6BXQK3VCL-9ZLVyyXs_Au1&v=0pcWviZcFVU

You might find the review easier to read on my website, Comboteur Fou. Especially since, given the long nature of my reviews, I must cut the presentation, pros and cons, rules and artwork, and how to play parts.
[...]

IV – The wall of text (a.k.a. the Comboteur Fou’s opinion)

Gameplay

Invaders Must Die
Following DVG‘s trend of releasing several slightly tweaked versions of the same game system with close to no information as to the actual components and variance implemented, The War of the Worlds comes in four versions, with the tripods landing respectively in France (technically, Italy and Spain), England, Japan, and the East Coast of the United States of America. True to the source material, each game sees the player fighting the tripods and trying to fend them off until, ultimately, they succumb to germs their defensive system was not prepared for, wiping out the threat with the most menacing and effective killers the world has ever known: microbes. Offering a tight package, light on rules, phases, unit types, and playable in under two hours, setup and teardown included, can The War of the Worlds: France still pack as much punch and depth as heavier solo wargames, while staying true to its theme?
Incised before I’ve ceased
War games remain a genre of their own, where things that wouldn’t get a pass in a boardgame, such as lower component quality and severely dated artwork, are more easily tolerated. Long sessions, full of tactical and strategic decisions with myriads of moving pieces, vast and totally open information, deeply ramified outcomes, are often the norm, and many a boardgamer will feel lost upon entering that world.With a simplified ruleset and a small set of unit types—9 to be exact, 3 of which really matter in combat—WoWF attempts to tie in the two worlds and make for an easy-to-get-into wargame, full of moving pieces and decision but low maintenance.
The absence of a clearly defined player turn/AI turn structure initially renders the flow of a round counterintuitive, and fully interiorising the rules proves longer than such a light game should warrant.Yet one of WoWF‘s most interesting points has to be its round structure. Chaotic randomness lurks at each step’s corner, taking the form of events which contribute to make each play completely unique.Both sides’ contribution to the war effort is brilliantly emulated through a back-and-forth between factions, as Tripods never act during phases granting control to the players, only being permitted to act during the Devastation, Martian and Assembly phases, and occasionally, the Battle phase instead.
The player is encouraged to think ahead, in order to maximize their efficiency each round, by small subsets of rules for each of the phases comprising said round. Especially when they aim for a Battle. Battles are automatically triggered when at least one tripod shares a zone with a gun at the start of the Battle phase. Considering gun movement naturally occurs during the Human Action phase, which takes places after the Battle phase during a round, and before potential tripod movement, the player must either pay resource points during the production phase to move their units and ensure a Battle takes place, should they desire it, or plan movement and balance the odds in advance to save on their precious resources and let the Battle trigger by itself. Additionally, Cavalry units are able to lure tripods toward a desired zone, facilitating the process, at a cost.Units accessible to the player are divided between two categories: metal-based weapons of mass destruction, and organic bi or quadrupeds weak fleshlings, in the form of refugees, infantry and cavalry. The latter two, if they can enter battles, are not able to inflict damage upon tripods, but make up for it with their capacity to act directly on the country map. Infantry can perform one of two actions during the Human Action phase, both of which can preemptively weaken tripods. The odds largely play against the human unit in both cases, and an Infantry cannot perform an action if they move during the Human Action phase, forcing the player to, once more, think ahead and spend resource points during the Production phase to move them to best benefit from the unit.The first Infantry action is to plant a Powder Kegs in their current zone. Said keg can damage a tripod entering a zone in which they are planted. Planting a keg requires a die roll, detonating it another one. Failure to plant and detonate can result in a lost Infantry or production point. With a requirement of three random conditions to succeed, Powder Kegs reward the player with one damage on a single tripod, which can quickly be negated by a Repair roll, and are thus best ignored.Their second ability proves more interesting, as they are able to destroy tripods still in their landing pods, before it is turned into an active wave by the handling machine. The ordeal is no less challenging, as the Infantry needs first reach the landing zone across the map, before taking the action and rolling the proper colour. Here, too, the odds largely play against the human unit, as the handling machine needs merely roll the right colour during their own roll, taking place at the end of each round. Destroying more than a single tripod this way requires heavy dedication and luck with little to no payoff. In which it still proves a superior action to Powder Kegs.The last flesh and blood unit, but not the least important, is Refugees. They can be considered both a liability and a resource, as their sole use is to sway points in favour of either the Martians, should they be captured, or the humans, should they successfully escape by sea. They only act during the Human Action phase and Escape phase. Their goal is to reach a seaport from which to elope before being captured by a tripod. Anticipating tripod movement is rewarded by denying the Martians points for capturing refugees. They are yet not able to move anywhere without limit: a zone can only shelter as many Refugees as cogs are depicted on their production token. Aside from Paris, which can have at most three Refugees, each zone can have either one or two Refugees at the end of a phase. Excess Refugees are then captured by the Martians. Devastated zones, seaports and regular zones become progressively weaker as the game progresses and tripods lay down ruin, and managing Refugees efficiently itself becomes more and more challengingBut their role does not end there. Should they successfully hop on a ship, they still have to make it off the coast to the high seas without alerting or being captured by a tripod roaming the shores. And these prove amphibious.Each Refugee at a seaport must perform a die roll to attempt to board a ship. Once each Refugee has made an attempt, should one succeed, the player then must roll a die again to determine whether the ships, of freighter class, leave the coast without raising the tripods’ attention, or if they must face one or two of the mechanical hunters in naval battle.
The Cry of Mankind
The initial wave’s and landing pod placement are both determined randomly out of three possible locations, by a die roll which also influences probability, Rennes being the most likely, but also the most difficult to overcome because of its proximity to Paris, while Italy and Spain are more likely and easier to survive initially. On the other hand, Rennes is also where the landing pod is the least likely to be assembled into a wave during the assembly phase, the likelihood of which being one chance in six. Which is not to say it will not sometimes be immediately assembled into a wave ready to spread fire and death.
The first enterprise the player is most likely to invariably undertake is the construction of four factories. A small undertaking by itself, as they cost a mere 2 resource points (RP) apiece, and start paying off in two rounds by their +1 RP contribution to the Production phase. In fact, they’re such a mandatory step that it’s a wonder why they are not already built in with smaller turn 1 income, as said turn 1 becomes rather repetitive as is.WoWF, on the player’s side at least, is a game of attrition where the humans are regularly confronted to resource losses with no compensation. The best way to mitigate those losses is to minimize them preemptively, while the Martian threat constantly increases and grows ever more pressing.As such, establishing a strong presence and defending key zones in the first rounds is crucial to the establishment of as efficient an offensive army as possible..
Considering how the first round is likely to most often result in the same actions and that initial setup can only result in six slightly different configurations, not accounting for the scenarios, which have their own section in this review, replayability has to rely on highly prevalent randomness, to which the aforementioned events and the quasi systematic dice rolls contribute.
Human frailty is evident throughout a game. The France version units, at least, are highly unreliable, both in and out of battle, and tend to fall like flies in front of the tripods. It has already been proven how ineffectual Infantry units are earlier.Guns go down with a single hit, while proving as resilient as goombas under a tripod’s foot. Once placed at the start of battle, they can no longer be moved. Unless the battle takes place on a hill, Martian units are placed after Human units, and the tripods move according to random card draws, thus being completely unpredictable, so the odds of being squished underfoot are extremely high.Firing isn’t their strong suit either. Unless directly adjacent to a tripod, an extremely perilous situation, they have a one-in-two chance of hitting. At range 2 or 3, the likelihood drops steeply to one-in-six. Tripods require 2 hits to take down, and can and often do repair themselves or call for reinforcements. The closer to a gun they are, the higher the chances they have to land a hit.Even a single tripod can prove deadly for a small squad, able to wipe them before they land a single hit if the dice don’t comply, as experimented with variants.
Losing guns without leaving a single dent in the invaders, and gaining any footing from a battle, is in fact so easy that interacting with waves early should not even be considered, whereas building a sizeable army in a single chosen location before luring in the enemy and disposing of them as the mob would in back alley, allowing the enemy to perform unavoidable devastation in the meantime while ushering out as many escapees as possible to generate victory points, often is the best way to operate for the first half of the game, there again severely impacting the game’s replayability by limiting the player’s ways of approaching the game.An alternate victory condition is to destroy each wave currently on the map, as well as each landing pod. But doing so is so unlikely, the game naturally coming to a conclusion by itself a round or two after the final wave appears, that achieving said condition should be considered a achievement in itself more than anything, and, in France at least, this condition is anecdotal.The main condition, reaching ten victory points, is only impacted by land battles throughout the reduction of tripods, thus either lowering the damage output of a wave, or its complete disappearance, more likely in the second half of the game, ensuring more longevity to the different production zones and thus less points lost during the devastation phase and more points during the escape phase. Battles matter but are not the main focus of the game, and by themselves do not give the player any benefit from being won.A game can be concluded, in a win, with three mere battles taking place. In France, at least.Destroying a wave will effectively negate a whole round of destruction for the Martians, who can control five waves at most. An unlikely occurrence.
Grind
For a game labelled by its publisher as a wargame, the low amount of actual battles is surprising. Even more so when putting a focus on actual battles is a sure way to waste time achieving very little. Managing chits on a board is at the game’s heart, but most of said chits are not battle-related: refugees, waves, handling machines, production tokens form the majority of the board clutter, while tripods only enter the board on battle tactical maps, and guns are only used in battles as well, though they do move on the map.
Battles themselves are simple affairs, driven by card draws and dice rolls.The absolute stillness of human units, unable to move at all during battles once guns are placed, with severe limitations—a single horizontal line being allowed, while cavalry and infantry units are relegated to the bottom line— during the first step, make battles themselves extremely simple to manage, but also frustratingly random, and severely limit decision space for the player, who is reduced to firing a gun or not while they are covered, and in which order to fire them and against which target once they no longer are.A player might consider not firing a gun if they have an Earthwork counter. Firing the gun would discard one such counter. Earthwork counters are added during battle setup if it takes place on a zone with hills, or by infantry units if they succeed at a dice roll—failing the roll resulting in the Infantry’s destruction. Those counters prevent tripods from firing at a gun until they are all discarded, either when the gun fires, or when the tripods successfully use the Detect action, which is resolved the same way they would fire. Considering how inefficient the French guns are at anything but point blank, the player may want to make them invisible as long as possible, until a tripod gets close enough to grant a 50% chance to hit per die. The risk of destruction remains high, as Earthworks do not protect the gun from being stepped on by a tripod and immediately destroyed, and their movement remains unpredictable. Abstaining from firing is therefore even more perilous than actually firing and play the odds, actually making use of the gun before it meets its inevitable doom. Squished guns are probably more common than guns melted by death rays.
In itself, the battle system is ingenious.Initial tripod placement is determined by flipping a battle card and placing the tripod colour group in the corresponding lettered Hex. Each turn, Tripod actions are determined by a new card and their colour. AI is low maintenance, battles require little upkeep or management, the player simply has to go down the card and resolve tripod actions, then decide whether or not to fire guns and on which target, and repeat until the battle is over, either because all units on side are destroyed or because all the tripods left the battlefield by simply going away.Unfortunately, the absence of movement on the human side, again, rarely let battles become satisfying and more than simply random. The ease with which tripods dispose of guns, often before they get a chance to fire, the extremely low odds of actually hitting a tripod, also contribute to the feeling of unease. Which is not to say that battles are entirely desperate. Winning a battle simply requires a lot of preparation. Units are expensive, and, a common theme in this game, resources spent on them are too easily lost without having any kind of impact on the game, because no roll succeeded or because they are destroyed before acting.Any battle initiated with less than six guns and/or a couple of battle plans against a 4-tripods wave, the standard amount in a base game play, is akin to suicide. Damage successfully inflicted on tripods is highly likely to be immediately negated by a Repair or Arrival battle result, fully replenishing their forces straight away while the human resources are depleted with no impact. This is one of the game’s main issues as far as randomness and pacing are concerned: on paper, lost battles still seem to gain the player ground as they slowly deplete the enemy’s forces and thus hinder their ability to spread devastation across the country. In reality, though, reinforcements and repairs occur so frequently that the benefits from a lost battle are negligible, and thus, resources spent are lost with no benefit. Which is also true for Infantries lost while trying to operate or battle plans which result in failure. The player should reasonably expect any spent resource to somehow advance their plan against the Martians, when in fact, any resource spent is a simple double-or-nothing style gamble which will more often than not result in empty-handed losses.Unit types across the various theatres of the DVG War of the Worlds series remain the same, but their costs and efficacy vary. Due to the publisher’s persistent refusal of releasing complete information about their product, accessibility to said various costs and roll result is restricted. In a nutshell, the French units are terrible and rather expensive for what they do. Enjoying battles and gaining positive results require large armies, as alluded to above, but decisions remain limited. The player is at best able to better decide which gun Martians fire at first (usually the least expensive ones) and which ones to preserve (usually those rolling two dice and thus able to hit twice per turn). They also get the opportunity to prioritise which tripod they want to disable or take down, with the added benefit that damaged tripod cannot perform a second action in the action of A+B, or special actions such as summoning reinforcements.The only way the player can turn the tides of battle directly once it has begun is through battle plans. Battle plans are expensive, at 5 resources a random one and 10 resources a chosen one, but can be made more affordable by sacrificing a Cavalry unit, although once again, the result depends on a dice roll. Battle plans give the player welcome luck mitigation, allowing them to reroll, double up on results, or even to discard a catastrophic battle card and draw another instead. They remain subject to randomness, and it is perfectly possible that a battle plan is spent without benefiting the player, because their roll resulted in a failure for instance.
Waves in the base game systematically start with four tripods, unless Infantry successfully destroyed some before the handling machines finished their jobs. They therefore require large armies to be faced, as stated above. The scenarii let the player face smaller waves or even individual tripods. For the purpose of this review, early battles were waged against waves comprising only a few tripods, manoeuvering but a couple of guns. The results were invariably catastrophic. Guns were destroyed without inflicting any damage to the Martians, putting the player in a much worse position than they were initially by stripping them of time and resources without gaining any ground on the enemy.Scenarii to be expanded further down this review.
The Grand Experiment
Battles and setup are no great providers of replayability, as established above. What is, though, are events. Counterintuitively, and despite having different card backs, every event is shuffled in one big event deck, to be drawn from when the card back matches the current phase at the start of said phase. The rules fail to indicate whether multiple events can be drawn per phase, which tends to happen relatively often, as the deck contains nine cards each for the seven different phases.Absence of events for nearly two complete rounds are also bound to happen with such a system, and so the rhythm at which events do trigger is never exactly the same twice. Ideally, events trigger every other phase, or twice per round, but in reality the odds are unlikely.Events can benefit either side. Effects range from putting a special unit in play which allows the player to perform extra actions during their phases, to one-time effects changing the initial disposition of the battlefield, should one occur that round. Some event cards can be saved until their conditions are met, for instance allowing the player to temporarily negate an effect; others will give a resource points outlet, usually requiring a high amount, in exchange for an effect. Although rarely will the player be able to meet the requirements when those one-time effects cards are drawn, as spending resources immediately to build up forces is preferable to saving them for potential events.Whether the player is allowed to spend the resources only at the start of the phase, when the event card is drawn and resolved, or throughout the whole duration of the phase, is not explicitly stated. Although it only matters in the Production Phase, the one during which production points are generated, three of the nine cards give production points outlets. The Production phase is the one the player is the least likely to have leftover production points at the start of, making these cards feel like wasted opportunities more than anything. Should the player save on production points instead of recruiting army, they will have missed a whole movement round (forced movement during the Production phase and natural movement during the Human Action phase), therefore never being worth the trouble, especially when the pickings are incredibly slim.
Permanent effects, in the form of France-specific characters such as Monet, the Eiffel Tower, not named the Iron Lady although it would have made more sense if it is to be cast (see what I did here?) as a character, are the most likely to shape the player’s strategy on the long term. Yet only five of these are present in the game and only Monet and Dreyfus are really worth investing to, Monet because he is the only effect able to effectively repair zones by restoring workforce, Dreyfus because he makes Infantry actually worth it, turning each roll they make into a sure success for two production points per roll. If he shares a zone with them. A lot of work but well worth it. The Eiffel Tower makes each Industrialisation token produce +2 production points instead of +1. For ten production points itself, the effect needs three rounds to start being worth it by itself (not accounting for the initial cost of such tokens), and will only be worth it if drawn in the early game. The card does not specify if the player is allowed to keep it until they can afford the ten production points cost, or if they must spend it immediately upon drawing the card, which, considering it’s a Human Action Phase event, is unlikely to happen.Many of the effects that favour the Martians are absolutely devastating for the player, while those in favour of the player are mildly positive. The Battle Events are the worst offenders in that regard and can and will utterly gut the player’s forces with little window for reaction: getting the tripods and the guns closer to one another at the start of battle is a sure way to have guns be switched, while red having additional Fire each turn and blue additional Move each turn are sure to create massive havoc. On the other hand, giving initiative to one or the other side is a really minor change. In either case, once the event is drawn, the player can no longer opt out of battle.As a general rule, events during a Human-oriented phase are mostly positive, with a couple of really strong events such as Terran Germs being able to give or take a full ten victory points, and some really terrible events such as Governmental Action; while events during a Martian-oriented phase, or a shared phase, tend to globally be tiered toward the Martians. Cards do not feel balanced, with the power level difference alluded to above not being an outlier but more of the norm. Too many player-centric events turn out to be anything but worth investing into, while a few of them are so defining that one can but hope they will be drawn each game, and a well-timed Terran Germs can flat out end the game.An interesting idea in theory, then, though better playtesting could have yielded more interesting results.
Sea of Sorrow
A few Devastation phases into the game and refugee tokens abound on the tactical map. Refugees, while merely defenceless units, are able to quickly sway point values for each side, and the player needs to quickly control and manage them if they want to rack up some victory points while denying them to the Martians.Mere escapists, refugees tend to die easily as they are removed from the board if they share a zone with a tripod after a wave’s movement, but also when they exceed their zone’s gears, which for regular zones are between one and two, and for Paris can go up to three. Many a refugee will thus bite the dust over the course of attempted colonisation, and the more the game progresses, the more of them will be captured, as zones they can shelter in shrink and seaports get inaccessible or destroyed. Devastated zones are off limits for these units, as humans are not yet able to sustain themselves on red weed and human corpses.The only way to save refugees is by seeing them off the coast on freighters taking off seaports, of which France contains four. French harbours are expensive in France, but are handpicked instead of randomised as they are in other versions, giving the player the opportunity to set some refugees up before they dedicate to a harbour.The way a round is structured only allows refugees to attempt escape after checking for captures in excess of the zone’s capacity. Which means that, at most, under the base game rules, two refugees can attempt escape per harbour per round.Said escapes are symbolised by two successive dice rolls, the first one for each attempting refugee, who has 4 in 6 chances of getting aboard a freighter, followed by a collective roll for each freighters of a given harbour, with a 50% chance of escaping unnoticed by a tripod. In effect, said attempts frequently result in one or more refugees being left on the shore and the other one being shot at by a tripod. Odds and stuff…
Should freighters escape unnoticed, they simply are removed from the game after giving the player a single victory points. Should they fail, though, the main game pauses and the player has to set up and play through a naval battle. For each refugee that is part of the attempted escape, the player must put a freighter on a naval battle board, and up to two tripods. Warships and battle plans are then available, at four production points apiece for the ships and full price for the plans.Naval battles can potentially take place four times per round, every round, but are even shallower than the already fairly shallow land battles (and much shallower than the sea they take place on). Their stakes are lower, as they will at best yield two victory points and at worst give the martians said two victory points, while not reducing either side’s forces, unless the player spends resources on warships and battle plans. And why would they, for two mere points? The tripods are of a special type, and not part of any wave, so destroying them will have no lasting consequences on the tactical map, and four resource points spent on a warfighter are four resource points lost to no avail. Still an unlikely scenario, granted the ship is as ineffective as a regular gun, and the tripods still require two hits to bring down.As such, naval battles quickly become an annoying waste of time where the player ends up merely moving one or two freighters down and flipping a card to see whether the tripods catch or shoot them successfully. To drastically cut playtime down and ease up on the tedium, simply rolling another die to determine whether a freighter reaches the bottom of the map unhindered is sufficient.While on paper the prospect of fighting at sea as well as land is alluring, in effect it represents no more than a mere, repetitive distraction never worth the time or resources.Absence of depth and impact on the overall game is unfortunate in light of the allocated components: 5 additional tripods; a whole naval battle deck complete with unique keywords, but only about as half as many cards as land battle, although sea battles occur much more frequently; freighter unit tokens which each stand for a single refugee token and thus only serves for aesthetic purposes; warship tokens; paragraphs in the rules and cheat sheet.Naval battles feel like they should have taken a bigger place in the game but were never pushed to their full potential, for lack of time, resources or playtesting perhaps. They do become more interesting in a given scenario, which will be expanded upon later in this review.
Wrath Monolith
Considering all the challenges listed aboves, winning the game should be extremely challenging.And yet, it manages to play itself into a corner and to defeat itself with little help from the player, making each play of WoWF feel frustratingly inconsequential.Even after the player ploughed through a one-sided war of attrition, setting up and minimising losses as much as possible to only start rising to reliable power by the endgame, finally gaining some sort of control over the course of events, a mere couple of rounds are enough to result in a conclusion, awarding a win out of nowhere… to the player.Games where none of the Human side actions left a mark or a dent, in which every action failed, no wave was wiped, no battle was won, still resulted in the germs taking over and destroying the invaders. To the point where letting the game pit itself against itself and watch the events unfold into a win with zero player input has been given thought.Thematic? As far as the source material is concerned, adequately so.Rewarding? Absolutely not. More like a slap in the face and a total waste of time.True for other theatres? Inspiration to acquire other versions was hardly stirred, so this reviewer will never know.
As the base game fails to deliver any sort of challenge or let the player have an impact on events, do the scenarii/variants deliver?Without a doubt they do. Too much, perhaps.
Each war theatre comes with its own unique optional challenges in the form of variant rules. France has three, and they drastically modify the game, mostly during setup, but with impactful ramifications all throughout the play.And do they up the challenge!
The Ironclad Martians puts a heavier emphasis on land battles, pitching the player against five waves containing three tripods each from turn one. Devastation takes a much more prominent role from the early game on. On paper, since waves are smaller, focusing on dispatching them as early as possible and before they swell in numbers sounds sound, but not only do the ineffectual French units turn early failed attempts futile, as they do with the base rule, they also render them harmful, any gun lost still translating into a pure resource loss with no gain to make up for it. Then it all goes downhill from there into a quick loss as waves destroy zones and thus cut resource income down.Should the player not focus on dispatching waves early, which can prove challenging as they retain their tendency to move out of rage, the inevitable victory points gathered by Humans bring them reinforcements earlier than the player can build a sufficient number of guns to stand a chance against a wave, making things spiral out of range quickly.The scenario is interesting, if only because the game proves challenging at last. Unfortunately, the lack of initial randomness—setup is fixed—also drastically lowers replayability, making this scenario feel like a puzzle to be solved rather than a highly rule variation. Bets are still on early wave annihilation, with a heavy dose of luck. Should RNG not comply, then the game might as well be reset, opening the way to a whole new level of frustration.An interesting alternative, which would have benefited from more randomization to be played anything but sparingly.
The Handling Machines is an interesting twist in that, instead of being restricted to five waves at most, the Martians tripods can now venture on the map as single units or as part of smaller waves, spreading havoc more wildly and rapidly but with lower consequences, and making battles more frequent and easier to prepare for; but also forcing the player to spread their forces further. Infantry’s support role is made more immediately useful as there are more handling machines they are able to tackle and destroy. Provided they manage to reach them first. Because a new downside is the tendency tripods have to destroy zones they are assembled in extremely quick. Units remain unable to enter devastated zones, translating into Infantry quickly becoming incapable of reaching handling machines at all since they now reside in a devastated zone, and thus becoming useless, in that regard at least, by default, since they are now unable to prevent the machines from adding Tripods to the map. Which in turn means the player is now no longer able to fulfil the alternative victory condition of destroying them all. A surprising oversight.With many more rolls to make per round to check for potential new tripod spawns during the production phase and the assembly phase, this scenario is more fiddly than the base one and asks the player to better track which machine they have rolled for or not. Not a dealbreaker, but noticeable.The additional early and mid-game randomness occasioned by the high amount of rolls and tripods give this scenario increased replayability over the previous one, though it does suffer from the same snowballing issue in case of early lost battles. French guns do not receive any improvement, so the issue of dealing with tripods while they are weak remains.
Refugees is the best variant to ease a player into a low amount of changes, and if the variant were listed by additional rules complexity, it would have been placed first. Merely modifying the initial setup, this scenario sees each zone start with three refugees (and interestingly, the game does not come with enough tokens to actually perform this step). Throughout the game, a couple of other changes occur: in the devastation phase, each workforce loss results in an additional refugee per point lost; in the human action phase, the player is allowed to spend a resource point for each refugee they wish to keep in excess of a zone’s workforce value.Small changes, but very impactful on the strategy. While in the base game, production points are merely used for units and barely relevant in any other phase, managing them now becomes more tense and requires more thought, as not only can they allow massive sea escapes, they also make sea battles interesting, and warships relevant, as there can now be more than two mere freighters escaping at once.Land battles drop down the priority scale, not that they were very high to begin with but they remained the main resource points outlet; while points will heavily swing for both parties during phases in which refugees are saved or captured.While the challenge is not necessarily higher than in the base game, the game feels more varied, more tense, and options more interesting and satisfying. Protecting zones, especially ones with harbours, has a whole different impact on the game. Rather than simply ensuring regular production income, the player now shelters refugees and tries to prevent pouring all their resources into their survival.Saving resources from one phase to another becomes more of a priority, spending them to create large groups of refugees cluttering at harbours for large evasion attempts that finally makes it worth investing into freighters and battle plans, and making naval battles transform into what they were probably meant to be all along is very satisfying.Aside from a free harbour each turn, a minor addition, the rest of the game, remains unaltered. Having the initial wave land in Rennes proves devastating, though not enough to cost the game, because of the harbour in that zone. Similarly to the regular game, the player can have every battle and outcome turn wrong, and still win the game.
The League of Terran Nations, being played over multiple theatres, hasn’t been tested for this review.

[...]

Conclusion

The War of the Worlds: France is a tragic miss. Ripe with interesting and novel ideas, the game is an accessible, relatively easy to learn introduction to wargames, flows smoothly with a lot of back and forth between Martians and Human phases, has potential for replayability… And ultimately falls miles away from the mark, because of poor marketing decisions (breaking the game into four different theatres), development mistakes (using an inhouse designer rather than the original designer for the non-England versions, lack of playtesting). None of the player’s actions really impact the game’s outcome in the long run, due to the extreme randomness, lack of reactive mitigation, and more importantly, the game playing itself into a corner. Research on other theatres’ forums lead to the belief that the other versions are more challenging. Too much, perhaps. England seems to be the most popular war theatre.

Strong potential and novel ideas marred by a questionable balance

The War of the Worlds: France belongs to DVG. A huge thank you to DVG for providing Le Comboteur Fou with a review copy.

Hi,
After the incredibly promising debate UK parliament held on legalising assisted dying, I feel 100% compelled to try and make a difference, and have my voice heard, so that it will not only be terminally ill people that will have the option of euthanasia.
Is there anyone else here from the UK that would like to work with me on making a difference?
Very simply, I have a 2-item ToDo list:

1. Make a list of relevant MPs, charities and organisations to send a letter to.
2. Write a well-structured letter with my experiences and arguments to send to contacts in 1. that have the potential either to change minds towards my thinking, or provide additional arguments for people who are already on my side, giving them material to help argue the case - such that my voice will trickle up eventually to policy makers that will determine what the future laws permitting assisted dying will look like.

But I realised that the more help I can get with this, the better. Because basically, I'm just one person, and I don't really know what I'm doing.
So is there anyone here who would like to work together, to work on points 1. and 2. and try and get our voices heard?
I've made a WhatsApp group chat where anyone interested in this movement can work together and discuss matters, please feel free to join it:
https://chat.whatsapp.com/HfSplC5vHR2BnPmd9S9gTE
I've also started a subreddit specifically for discussing how to campaign for assisted dying in the UK: proEuthanasiaUK, please join!

As someone who has played shooters since he was 11 and is now 34 I can gladly tell you say that this game has the potential to be amazing if the Devs move in the right direction.
First things first. The graphics are absolutely beautiful! like WOW! the detail to leaves, grass trees and water is very very nice. Even at a distance you can see detail that would be seen normally IRL.
The Audio needs heavy work. Playing pubg for a long time you get very good senses where shots are coming from and how far they are but in this game I feel like if you hear a shot that's close to you its a bit further then you expected. The audio profiles for guns also needs to be adjusted and tuned. Something to look forward to in the future. Putting on a headset to boost or suppress the sounds around you is a very cool feature. The bugs and birds and sounds in the environment are pretty loud at times. The Audio from other players in the vicinity was also good so I cant complain about that,
The gameplay... A lot is needed to be said about the gameplay so i will break it down into parts.
Medical items need to be highlighted or shown which injury they can fix. Now i know this takes away from the difficulty of the game but for first time players it might be helpful just to indicate what each does. Remember we are not all advanced gamers and some people need a helping hand or guide. The animations are amazing. from the surgical to the blood bag. Some might take a little to long but amazing to say the least. The sad part is you cant cancel the animation or process of healing if you need to. For example if an enemy pushes you, you have to wait for the animation to finish. That needs a big change.
Gunplay. The reloading, Checking of ammo, shooting and swapping weapons animations are clean. The pistol could use some work as it does feel a tad bland. I wish there was a way where you could examine your weapon while holding it like CS2.
Movement. DONT EVER TILT AND SHOOT! its the slowest thing ever! could be drastically sped up but its extremely slow as to where it is now. The walking sound and animations is good other then when running and stopping you slide a little. I am not bragging but its something i noticed. The Crouch and going prone is on point! The stamina could us a little boost or there should be a way to boost your stats by using the gym in the camp. I remember when GTA implemented that and the more you used the gym the more stamina and muscles you have. It would be a cool feature to have as you can work on your character more.
The Problems. This list is long but I'm just going to list them all even though its an early access game and I totally salute the DEV team for what they have done.

• Enemies are sometimes bullet sponges and need to be reworked.
• Helicopter need to be able to detect enemies camping LZ areas and have the ability to move to another LZ or cancel the landing. Last thing you want is for you to spawn in and get killed by someone.
• bullet drop doesn't exist and should definitely be added to snipers and LMR's in the future.
• more weapons and in game items to lot. Not everything has to be a candy bar, tofu and a broken AK.
• More areas and LZ's to discover. The map is HUGE! make use of it.
• Improved audio when hearing shots and shooting your gun.
• More activities to do in basecamp other then stand around with your map open. The camp should be interactive.
• More interactive missions like hostage missions or escort missions.
• OBV in the future we would love to have vehicles or other modes of transportation
• Clothing and gun color customization would be amazing as well.
• Improved performance. Playing in 4k with 3090 and im getting 60fps with DLSS ultra performance. its good but could be better.

This list could go on and on but tis is an EARLY ACCESS GAME and I see a lot of people giving it bad reviews with little to no hope for the future. I feel like this game has the potential to be even better then EFT and even better then most tactical shooter but it needs a LLLOOOOTTTT of time. I will continue to enjoy it day by day and I hope to see the DEV team make the best out of it.
TL:DR : Game looks beautiful, runs decently but needs a lot of work as it still feels empty. Has potential to be number one tactical shooter in the future
EDIT 1: I really hope they allow third parties to implement VR headsets and Hepatic feedback shirts. Would be amazing to get shot and you feel a little pain.

Source: https://www.bungie.net/7/en/News/Article/twid-05-02-2024
This week in Destiny we’re fine tuning our PvP loadouts. We’ve got three new beautiful Crucible maps coming next week, and we want to make sure we’re ready. So, grab that Rose you’ve been dominating with, and let’s get into it.
This week topics:

• PVP map pack launch.
• The Pantheon boss profiles.
• The Pantheon Bungie Rewards.
• New Rahool reputation and Exotic system.
• The Final Shape shader icon revamp.
• PvP Strike Team update.
• Superblack shader now available.
• Windows 7 and 8 deprecation. ##PvP Map Pack Launch

With Update 7.3.6.4 this Tuesday, May 7, three new maps will be coming to Crucible: Cirrus Plaza, Eventide Labs, and Dissonance. We gave our first look at these maps last month during our Destiny 2: Into the Light Dev Livestream #3. In that stream, we provided a walkthrough of each map with discussion around our design goals, creation process, and artistic considerations with developing these maps. If you haven’t checked it out yet, head over and watch it now.
With only a few days until their release, we wanted to take a final look at these maps from a slightly different angle. That's why we partnered with our favorite community cartographer, Relikt, to develop callout map overviews. We've been fans of his callout maps for years, and we are thrilled to work with him on this new set of Crucible maps. Let’s jump in and take a look!

Eventide Labs

Eventide Labs is set in a long-forgotten human colony research outpost on Europa that Eramis chose to use as a refueling station.
Image Link^imgur
Image Link^imgur
With initial spawns near point A at the Warehouse and near point C at the Ice Caves, players will make their way to contest the Servitor area that holds point B and a valuable Heavy ammo crate. But be careful! While the interior of the map by the Promenade and Upper Glacial is more closer-quarters battle focused, a handful of longer sight lines in the space between Air Dock and Loading Bay means you’ll have to ensure that you approach carefully, or you may be on the wrong side of a Sniper Rifle.

Cirrus Plaza

Our next map takes us to Neptune. Cirrus Plaza is set in a shopping and entertainment center on Neomuna.
Image Link^imgur
Image Link^imgur
There are four distinct areas on Cirrus Plaza with the Arcade, Restaurant, Aquarium, and Atrium. Players will spawn in the Arcade near point A and the Restaurant near point C. The Atrium will be an area of interest, as players will seek the Heavy ammo crate that spawns in the middle and battle to earn the valuable high ground. However, with sight lines spanning multiple floors and players battling for point B nearby, Guardians will need to get in and out quickly or ensure they have teammates watching their back.

Dissonance

If you’ve always wanted to PvP on a terraformed Pyramid ship , then we’ve got you covered. Equal parts beautiful and haunting, Dissonance is set on the Witness’s former ship, Essence, which was terraformed by the Traveler.
Image Link^imgur
Image Link^imgur
With initial spawn points near the Fossils at point A and the Sigil at point C, the map offers somewhat direct paths through the middle, where players will be drawn to Orbits to engage in heated brawls over the Heavy ammo and across the bottom of the map towards point B.

New Territory

When these maps arrive on May 7, they’ll be on a separate 3v3 playlist called "New Territory," so you can enjoy the new experience these maps offer on demand. The playlist will replace the 3v3 Quickplay node and feature the three new maps with the following game modes: Survival, Elimination, Clash, and Collision. Be sure to pick up the introductory quest from Shaxx for more details on the maps and playlist.
Additionally, while New Territory is the designated playlist for the new maps, the maps will be available in other playlists and the private lobby as usual.
Lastly, New Territory will be available until the end of the Season, at which point any player who engaged in the playlist will be awarded with the new Slaycation emblem!
Slaycation
Image Link^imgur

The Pantheon Boss Deep Dive

The Pantheon is upon us. The new PvE raid gauntlet opened this week featuring four bosses as part of the first wave. With more bosses on the way each week, we wanted to take a moment to highlight the targets you’ve been tasked with taking down. We’ve got the details to ensure you know thy enemies well.
VANGUARD – GUARDIAN DISPATCH – ALL POINTS BULLETIN

DEFENDERS OF THE CITY,
You are tasked with the elimination of the following targets:

-GOLGOROTH-

Image Link^imgur
CLASSIFICATION

• Hive
• Blood of Oryx
• Ogre
• Worm

HAZARDS

• Void eye beam
• Venomous gaze
• Unstable Light
• Monstrous strength and durability

INTEL

• Ogres are forged -- through tortuous trials and dark rituals -- from corrupted and deformed Thralls known as Unborn. They know only pain and are conditioned to hate and despise the Light.
• Golgoroth is a Hive Ogre, infested with burrowing parasites related to the Worm gods and committed to Oryx’s service. One of the most powerful ogres ever known, Golgoroth was felled aboard the Dreadnaught by the same brave fireteam that delivered the Taken King his final death.
• Vanguard operatives uncovered that Golgoroth was enlisted as a vessel to both tithe violence directly to Oryx and corrupt hordes of stolen Light from Oryx’s conquests. The ogre’s flesh also served as containment for a Tablet of Ruin.

OF NOTE

• Recovered from Golgoroth’s remains, Tablet of Ruin x1.
• The item has been vaulted for proper containment.
• Deciphered Hive apocrypha suggests Golgoroth was fond of flower petals. Daughters of Savathûn would send warriors with petals stuffed beneath their chitin as deathly delights for the Ogre.

-CARETAKER-

Image Link^imgur
CLASSIFICATION

• Scorn, Abomination, altered
• Resonant
• Eliksni, former, House unknown
• Worm, altered

HAZARDS

• Scale drone swarm
• Overcharged ether blast
• Sacred dematerialization
• Resonant empowerment

INTEL

• Slain by the intrepid fireteam that stormed the Sunken Pyramid in the fetid Court of Savathûn, the Caretaker is a being of which we know little. It resembles a Scorn Abomination but has been the subject of several experiments and is believed to have been host to a Worm.
• The Caretaker was entrusted with a collection of Wormspawn as well as other entities the Witness and Rhulk had obtained to be analyzed and stored within the Pyramid.
• Reports from fireteams raiding the Sunken Pyramid mention that the Caretaker appears to have been both victim to and overseer of experiments seeking to fuse Worms and Scorn together.

OF NOTE

• Multiple fireteams have commented on what appear to be “pet” mutations that are believed to have belonged to the Caretaker. Whether these were rejected experiments or unsanctioned creations isn’t known.
• There is a discrepancy in the number of Wormspawn marked as collected from the Pyramid and those delivered to the Tower’s vault containment. Guardians who have information regarding their whereabouts should submit a report to Vanguard Leadership.

-ATRAKS-1, FALLEN EXO-

“The Wildcard”
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CLASSIFICATION

• Eliksni
• Exo(s)*
• House Salvation, Baroness
• Ex-House of Devils, Council

HAZARDS

• Modified Shock Rifle
• Extinction protocol
• Self-replication
• Teleportation
• Stasis empowerment

INTEL

• *Exos are humanoid machines that house a living mind. Atraks-1 obtained this technology from a BrayTech station orbiting Europa. Atraks’s mind commands multiples copies of her Exo frame.
• Before converting herr form, Atraks acted as Council to Eramis, Kell of House Salvation for many years. Atraks was entrusted with command of the Deepstone Crypt. She was destroyed by the Guardian fireteam that brought the Morning Star down from orbit.
• Atraks-1 created multiple copies of herself to deceive foes. Fireteams encountering this tactic in the future are advised to locate the original target and focus a simultaneous strike.
• Atraks was at one time seen as a voice of reason, an orator, able to speak to the hearts of the Eliksni youth in House Salvation.

OF NOTE

• The Hidden have relayed rumors that a copy of Atraks-1’s mind exists, stored somewhere on Europa. This has yet to be verified.
• At least two of the initial six fireteam members that destroyed Atraks-1 believe they destroyed a clone and that the real Atraks-1 still lives. This is under investigation.
• Atraks-1 was known to prefer synthetic lubricant when undergoing maintenance.

-ZO’AURC, EXPLICATOR OF PLANETS-

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CLASSIFICATION

• Manufactured
• Cabal Shadow
• Legion Incendior
• Clone

HAZARDS

• Cabal magma launcher
• Searing beam (column of flame)
• Magma launcher compression blast
• Paracausal shielding
• Resonant empowerment

INTEL

• Zo’Aurc is a Cabal clone created by the deposed Emperor Calus and is assigned to a detachment of the Shadow Legion forces aboard the Witness’s personal Pyramid ship.
• According to Vanguard decryption teams, Zo'Aurc, who was granted the title Explicator of Planets, has surveyed a collection of worlds conquered by the Black Fleet for an unknown purpose. Preliminary theories span weighing the worlds for Discipleship to searching for the Veil or a method of contributing to the Final Shape.

OF NOTE

• Reports conclude that even the Shadow Legion was not immune to Nezarec’s torment. Zo’Aurc details his own nightmares and more reports of nightmares and violent incidents among his forces.
• Zo’Aurc’s personal logs have been decoded. It seems that, whatever their official goal was, they were personally cataloging worlds that had once been part of the Cabal empire but were no more. ##The Pantheon Bungie Rewards

And if the thrill of the hunt wasn’t enough, your success in The Pantheon will nab you not only some loot in-game, but also the opportunity to add some heroic Bungie Rewards to forever mark your accomplishments, including the Godslayer Title Pin and The Pantheon Raid Ring.
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The Pantheon Raid Ring features a legendary re-envisioning of our iconic first Raid Ring, launched in 2020. Beyond the striking raid symbol as the focus of the ring, owners will also have a private reminder of the importance of loyalty in the face of adversity. Etched on the inside is a message that reads, “Glory comes easy when you have allies you can trust.” The epitome of strength and camaraderie, The Pantheon Raid Ring stands as a testament to the valor and unity found in the heat of battle. This special Bungie Rewards offer is available for purchase only to players who complete all encounters from any tier of The Pantheon in Destiny 2 by June 3, 2024.
The Godslayer Title Pin will also be available for purchase via Bungie Rewards for players who complete the Godslayer Title by June 3, 2024.

Rahool’s Frequent Decryptor Program

The experience of grinding out new Exotic armor can be a time-consuming process. It can take quite a few runs to get the drop you’re looking for, and many more to get one that has stats that support your build. Besides that, with Exotic armor pieces often forming the backbone of a powerful build, new players are regularly asked to spend a long time tackling challenging content solo before being able to run builds that support the most effective tactics.
Luckily, the Econ Team has established a good working relationship with the Tower’s Number One Cryptarch over the last year as we added Exotic armor focusing, and we have managed to help Rahool set up a new promotional program of sorts that makes farming the armor you want more deterministic and less dependent on rotators.
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Starting in The Final Shape, Rahool is going to be the source for any new Exotic armor that we release. When you first talk to Rahool after The Final Shape launch, he will introduce you to a new rewards program tied to his brand-new Reputation Track. The idea is simple: the more you decode engrams with him, the more you increase your reputation with him. Once you completely fill the reputation track once and reset your rank, Rahool will allow you into an elite club, giving you access to a new tier of focusing.
Once you become one of Rahool’s “Engram Ensiders” (he was very proud of the name, so be nice to him), you’ll be able to purchase any piece of Exotic armor for any character on your account for one Exotic engram and one Exotic cipher, in addition to the previous focusing options. Because this is tied to Rahool’s new reputation track, there is no weekly limit to using this tier of focusing; as long as you still have Exotic ciphers and engrams, you can keep rolling armor.
With this change, we are also altering the way that old sources of Exotic armor work. First, Lost Sectors will keep the same drop rates for Exotics but will instead drop engrams whenever they would have previously dropped gear. Neomuna will also still drop new Exotic armor when you complete a Vex Strike Force encounter, but we won’t be adding any more new armor to the drop list after Season of the Wish.
With these changes, we know you’re wondering, “How long will it take to get this newfangled tier of focusing? I’ve got the World’s First Race to prepare for, wot wot!” Without going into the exact numbers, the actions that will give the most reputation will be precision decryption (aka Tier 2 focusing), followed by advanced decryption, then opening an Exotic engram , and last but also least, opening a prime engram. So, if you want to be ready for the Witness’s forces as soon as possible, make sure to stock up on Exotic engrams and Ascendant Shards before June 4, as with a little more than a full stock of Exotic engrams you’ll be able to start focusing new armor.

Shader Icon Revamp

With The Final Shape, we're upgrading the look and design of the shader icon layout. Shaders are a core way a player can provide a unique look and feel to their Guardian, and we wanted to help continue to make that a better experience. Our goal with this update is to help make the shader icons more accurately reflect the colors and textures they will apply.
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Currently, there are some issues that can make the experience of applying a shader inconsistent. The first being that, while each shader applies six colors, only four are currently shown on the shader icon. This can sometimes result in the shader appearing differently than players may expect from the icon preview.
Adding to this is the fact that all four color sections of the current shader icon are equal in shape and size, making it difficult to distinguish what the main colors will be when applied. There are also many shaders that have unique glows that players strive for, and with the current design, they are not represented. Gambit Jadestone is a great example of this.
Gambit Jadestone Shader Icon - Current
Image Link^imgur
To help address these issues, we've made updates to the shader icon design that includes all six colors for that shader. We are also changing the design in a way that makes the primary colors appear to take more space than the secondary colors for a more accurate representation with most gear items. Glows are also reflected in the updated design so it will be easier to distinguish those shaders within your shader selection screens.
Gambit Jadestone Shader Icon - Updated In The Final Shape
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We tested many different design solutions for this goal, and eventually settled on adding a diamond to the center of the current icon design and changing the layout of the color slots on the icon.
We’re hoping these new improvements will offer a better experience for Guardians looking to show off their best looks.

PvP Strike Team Update

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Hello everyone, PvP Strike Team here to talk about Special ammo in the Crucible. Since Update 7.3.5, we’ve been doing a substantial amount of iteration on our Special ammo distribution systems. We’ve tried the meter system in multiple playlists as well as two different versions of the ammo crates system in Competitive, Hardware, and for a limited time in Trials. Some people asked why we are bothering to do this level of experimentation, and we’d like to explain it.
The Respawn System
The original Special ammo distribution system was brought into the game with Forsaken and, combined with allowing players to pick up ammo from defeated opponents, it eventually peaked in a short period of time where Special weapons eclipsed Primary weapons for final blows in Crucible. We walked it back several times, mostly focused on how much ammo you could pick up from bricks on the ground, but we were still left in a position of one-shot kill Special weapons making up a substantial percentage of Crucible final blows and contributing to many of the issues with sandbox readability we have discussed before.
While the respawn system had its issues and we felt there was some room for improvement, it did do a decent job of balancing ammo distribution between high- and low-performing players, with high-performing players on average utilizing Special ammo 1.5-2 times more than low performing players. Similarly, with years of the system in place, the Special weapon meta had solidified nicely. Shotguns were at the top, with around 47% of Special weapon kills. Snipers and Fusions combined to make up 43%, and all the other Special weapons were the remaining 10%.
When investigating changes to the respawn system, it became apparent that we were very limited in terms of how we could tune the system to get the desired effects, and that led us to investigate two additional systems. While we wanted to be able to solve the problem of too many one-hit kills in PvP, it was important to us that the new systems did not introduce new and potentially worse problems.
The Meter System
To understand the meter system, we first need to take you through its development. This system was originally intended to be experimental, utilized only in the temporary Labs mode, Checkmate. It was built using a combination of other existing systems co-opted from various parts of the game that allowed us to do things we could not usually do in Crucible, like retaining the state of the meter between lives and between rounds (an invisible stat on the scoreboard the game reads back every time you respawn), dropping ammo directly onto the player in a transmat (an invisible ammo crate that opens directly above you and then deletes itself), carrying the full amount of ammo over between deaths (utilizing the logic system we use in PvE activities to re-grant you ammo on spawn), and displaying the current progress of the meter (the UI bar borrowed from Exotic weapon and activities buffs).
Reception to the system in Checkmate was mixed, but we saw there was a lot of potential in our first truly “earnable” Special ammo system. Since its introduction, we have iterated on it several times, including earlier this week, and have gotten it into a much more acceptable state. Unfortunately, as the meter system has been exposed to the wider game for an extended period, we have run into two core issues which have required us to continue to look for possible solutions.
Balance Issues – The overall balance of the meter system in the wider sandbox has been concerning. It primarily benefits one player type over all others, with players who routinely perform above average in their lobbies getting the double benefits of having more Special ammo than the respawn system allowed at certain points in the game, while their opponents often have much less. In the meter system, high-performing players are earning Special ammo at 3.5 times the rate of lower-performing players, a delta which has led to many non-high-performing players abandoning Special weapons entirely. In Competitive, for example, with the meter system in use low-performing players were more likely to get kills with Heavy ammo weapons than they were with Special ammo weapons.
The weapon balance has become similarly one-sided, as it promotes Shotguns as the main solution, and all other Special weapons are perceived as no longer useful for most players when in an ammo-limited situation. Under the meter system, Shotguns have more than 76% of Special weapon kills, with Fusions and Snipers reduced to a combined 18%, and the rest of the Special weapons making up only 6%. This has led to a very “rich get richer” meta, where the best performing players and weapons are now even stronger by comparison without having to do anything differently.
Earlier this week we took steps to improve on these issues, but the difficulty we face in a system where Special ammo is almost entirely earned is that we have limited room to close the gap between high and low performers before it functionally becomes "everyone gets Special ammo on a timer," which is something we'd like to avoid.
Technical Issues – Balance problems aside, being built on tech that was not designed to be used in this way has exposed multiple issues that, upon investigation, we determined could not be easily fixed in the meter’s current state. Some things, like being unable to notify opponents that an ammo transmat has occurred or give starting ammo on join-in-progress, are already apparent to players. Other problems, which are far more significant, appear in the backend and affect how we handle several of the processes, impacting our ability to both balance and maintain the system in the long term. Functionally, these combined issues require us to rebuild the meter from the ground up as a new, dedicated system. We feel the system has shown enough merit that this is something we are undertaking for a future release.
The Crates System
As a potential fallback for the meter system, the Special ammo crates system was resurfaced and iterated upon. The crates system has several benefits from a design perspective, including the ability to place crates in key zones around the map to help encourage player movement in non-objective or objective-optional modes and prevent coagulation around a single power position, as well as offering the ability to delay Special weapon pushes in round-based modes.
The crates system has also, based on its time in Competitive and Trials, done some positive things in terms of moving Special ammo distribution closer to healthy values. The delta between high- and low-performing players has moved back to 2.4 times, and it has led to less late-game snowballing, as players who do try to hoard Special ammo lose it upon death. Weapon balance is similarly improved, although not optimal, and there is significantly increased variety with Shotguns coming down to 59% of kills, Fusions and Snipers combining for 28% of kills, and all other Special weapons increasing to 13% of kills.
Ultimately, the crates system in isolation also has several major problems. It can present a frustrating amount of friction between playing the game how you want and playing the game how you need to if you want to run a Special ammo weapon. Additionally, in round-based modes, it is too frictionless to run double Special ammo weapons. It is also the first system we have introduced that allows players to directly influence the Special ammo economy of the opposing team, as controlling most crates can help starve the other team of Special ammo.
From a strategic perspective this is an interesting mechanic, but with no other way to earn Special ammo in gameplay it serves to be more frustrating than fun, and many players have struggled to adapt to the change, causing additional friction when playing in matchmade teams.
The “Blended” 1-1-1 System
Each of the above-listed systems has both positives and negatives. In isolation, each system helps and hurts a different part of the population, but none of them holistically solves the Special ammo problem.

• The respawn system offers a safe distribution of ammo amongst players, and the ease of availability promotes special weapon diversity, but giving two kill’s worth to every player every life also results in far too many one-hit kills for a healthy sandbox.
• The meter system allows players to earn Special ammo in a deterministic way and increases the rate of earning if you’re playing well, which feels rewarding for high-performing players. On the other hand, for low-performing players, it feels significantly worse, and it promotes a homogenous Special weapon meta.
• The crate system allows us to promote movement around the map, alter push timings, reward map control, and give players more direct control over the amount of Special ammo in play for their opponents. It also causes significant friction by forcing conflict with optimal player flows and between matchmade teams, and it allows too much Special ammo in round-based modes.

The solution we have settled on is a blended system we refer to as the “1-1-1," taking parts of each of the above systems and combining them to solve the problems introduced by each system individually.

1. Players will respawn each life with one kill worth of Special ammo for their chosen weapon. This serves as a stopgap for players to make sure they are never going long amounts of time with an empty weapon and encourages more players to continue to utilize Special weapons, albeit in a limited fashion. Setting the ammo at one instead of two kill’s worth ensures that there is not a surplus of Special ammo that is available for minimum effort. Spawning with one also functions as a healthy mid-point between spawning with none in the crates system and retaining all ammo with the meter.
2. All Primary weapon final blows will drop a personal ammo brick that awards one kill’s worth of Special ammo. This is our deterministic, earnable method of distributing ammo in the blended system until our purpose-built version of the ammo meter is ready. What this means is that any of your final blows with a Primary weapon will drop an ammo brick that only you can pick up, regardless of whether the opponent you defeated had Special ammo on them. Likewise, if you defeat a player who has Special ammo using a Special ammo weapon, that will not drop a brick on the ground, so like the meter system, you cannot use Special to directly earn more Special. We will be initially introducing this specific portion of the system into the Competitive playlist starting next week, to help address player complaints about the economy in those modes.
3. Crates will continue to exist, but their icon visibility range on the HUD has been decreased, and they will only provide a single kill’s worth of Special ammo when opened. These crates will continue to serve as points of interest around a map, but it will no longer be a requirement for players to interact with them to partake in the Special ammo system. They will instead function as a small bonus for players who take the time to engage with them and an optional mid-point step for players to gain Special ammo that is more effort than simply respawning with it, but less effort than getting a Primary weapon final blow.

We’re very excited to introduce this system sometime after the launch of The Final Shape, and we greatly appreciate your patience and feedback as we have continued experimenting in our ongoing effort to improve the Crucible.

Superblack Shader Now Available

With the final two BRAVE weapons available this week, players will receive the final quests needed to unlock the much-anticipated Superblack shader. Players can unlock the shader by earning the Superblack Key Alpha from Shaxx, and Superblack Key Omega from Arcite 90-40. Using both will grant you access to the Superblack Containment and to the shader. If you’re a Hunter…er…a player of any class, you’ll want to grab this new Shader and look your finest.

Player Support Report

Reject modernity. Embrace tradition. Equip Anarchy.
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Known Issues List Help Forums Bungie Help Twitter

WINDOWS 7 AND 8 SUPPORT
Beginning on June 4, 2024, Destiny 2 is ending support for Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 operating systems. This decision is to align with Steam and Microsoft ending support for these systems.
Destiny 2 may continue running on these older operating systems after June 4, 2024, but we are unable to guarantee continued functionality after that date.
Players using these operating systems to play Destiny 2 are urged to upgrade to a more recent version of Windows or move to another platform so that their playtime won't be interrupted.
For more information, please view our Windows 7 and 8 Support article.
PANTHEON CHECKPOINTS
Due to an issue preventing players from progressing in The Pantheon when joining at a checkpoint, we have disabled checkpoints for The Caretaker and Zo'aurc, Explicator of Planets. We are attempting to resolve this issue as soon as possible and will provide an update when we have more information to share.
ARCHIE QUEST INFORMATION
We've seen confusion surrounding the weekly Archie Hunt quests and wanted to offer clarification. These quests are only intended to be available for one week each and were made with this time limit in mind. We understand that this is not ideal for all players, which is why we made the shader available for one completion for any of the weekly quests. The lore attached to these triumphs will become available to all players when The Final Shape launches on June 4.
KNOWN ISSUES
While we continue investigating various known issues, here is a list of the latest issues that were reported to us in our #Help Forum:

• In Onslaught, players may be teleported back to the incorrect ADU location after completing certain phases.
• The ADU in Onslaught can occasionally despawn.
• On rare occasions, the Spark in Onslaught can be lost.
• The portal to leave a boss phase in Onslaught will sometimes not open when killing a boss too quickly.
• BRAVE weapons The Recluse and Hammerhead don’t highlight enemies like their previous models.

For a full list of emergent issues in Destiny 2, review our Known Issues article. Players who observe other issues should report them to our #Help forum.

Titan Smash(ed)

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To be a Titan is to live and die by the melee, even if that means a gruesome but spectacular death.
Movie of the Week:
[
Image Link^{imgur](https://www.reddit.com/destiny2/comments/1c8ve7a/the_most_titan_way_to_die/)}

Final God Of Pain

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For a Final God of Pain, Nezarec is pretty stylish and colorful. Probably because we are not sharing that Superblack shader with him.
Art of the Week: AliveWake via TwitteX
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That’s everything we have for this week. Hopefully you’re enjoying The Pantheon so far. Remember, this is only the first wave of bosses and more are on the way. It only gets more fun from here. And we swear that wasn’t an evil laugh we were stifling, it was just…a cough. cough
We’ll be back next week with another TWID. Until then, be good to each other, and thanks for hanging out with us.

Destiny 2 Community Team

Source: https://www.bungie.net/7/en/News/Article/twid-05-02-2024
This week in Destiny we’re fine tuning our PvP loadouts. We’ve got three new beautiful Crucible maps coming next week, and we want to make sure we’re ready. So, grab that Rose you’ve been dominating with, and let’s get into it.
This week topics:

• PVP map pack launch.
• The Pantheon boss profiles.
• The Pantheon Bungie Rewards.
• New Rahool reputation and Exotic system.
• The Final Shape shader icon revamp.
• PvP Strike Team update.
• Superblack shader now available.
• Windows 7 and 8 deprecation. ##PvP Map Pack Launch

With Update 7.3.6.4 this Tuesday, May 7, three new maps will be coming to Crucible: Cirrus Plaza, Eventide Labs, and Dissonance. We gave our first look at these maps last month during our Destiny 2: Into the Light Dev Livestream #3. In that stream, we provided a walkthrough of each map with discussion around our design goals, creation process, and artistic considerations with developing these maps. If you haven’t checked it out yet, head over and watch it now.
With only a few days until their release, we wanted to take a final look at these maps from a slightly different angle. That's why we partnered with our favorite community cartographer, Relikt, to develop callout map overviews. We've been fans of his callout maps for years, and we are thrilled to work with him on this new set of Crucible maps. Let’s jump in and take a look!

Eventide Labs

Eventide Labs is set in a long-forgotten human colony research outpost on Europa that Eramis chose to use as a refueling station.
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With initial spawns near point A at the Warehouse and near point C at the Ice Caves, players will make their way to contest the Servitor area that holds point B and a valuable Heavy ammo crate. But be careful! While the interior of the map by the Promenade and Upper Glacial is more closer-quarters battle focused, a handful of longer sight lines in the space between Air Dock and Loading Bay means you’ll have to ensure that you approach carefully, or you may be on the wrong side of a Sniper Rifle.

Cirrus Plaza

Our next map takes us to Neptune. Cirrus Plaza is set in a shopping and entertainment center on Neomuna.
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There are four distinct areas on Cirrus Plaza with the Arcade, Restaurant, Aquarium, and Atrium. Players will spawn in the Arcade near point A and the Restaurant near point C. The Atrium will be an area of interest, as players will seek the Heavy ammo crate that spawns in the middle and battle to earn the valuable high ground. However, with sight lines spanning multiple floors and players battling for point B nearby, Guardians will need to get in and out quickly or ensure they have teammates watching their back.

Dissonance

If you’ve always wanted to PvP on a terraformed Pyramid ship , then we’ve got you covered. Equal parts beautiful and haunting, Dissonance is set on the Witness’s former ship, Essence, which was terraformed by the Traveler.
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With initial spawn points near the Fossils at point A and the Sigil at point C, the map offers somewhat direct paths through the middle, where players will be drawn to Orbits to engage in heated brawls over the Heavy ammo and across the bottom of the map towards point B.

New Territory

When these maps arrive on May 7, they’ll be on a separate 3v3 playlist called "New Territory," so you can enjoy the new experience these maps offer on demand. The playlist will replace the 3v3 Quickplay node and feature the three new maps with the following game modes: Survival, Elimination, Clash, and Collision. Be sure to pick up the introductory quest from Shaxx for more details on the maps and playlist.
Additionally, while New Territory is the designated playlist for the new maps, the maps will be available in other playlists and the private lobby as usual.
Lastly, New Territory will be available until the end of the Season, at which point any player who engaged in the playlist will be awarded with the new Slaycation emblem!
Slaycation
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The Pantheon Boss Deep Dive

The Pantheon is upon us. The new PvE raid gauntlet opened this week featuring four bosses as part of the first wave. With more bosses on the way each week, we wanted to take a moment to highlight the targets you’ve been tasked with taking down. We’ve got the details to ensure you know thy enemies well.
VANGUARD – GUARDIAN DISPATCH – ALL POINTS BULLETIN

DEFENDERS OF THE CITY,
You are tasked with the elimination of the following targets:

-GOLGOROTH-

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CLASSIFICATION

• Hive
• Blood of Oryx
• Ogre
• Worm

HAZARDS

• Void eye beam
• Venomous gaze
• Unstable Light
• Monstrous strength and durability

INTEL

• Ogres are forged -- through tortuous trials and dark rituals -- from corrupted and deformed Thralls known as Unborn. They know only pain and are conditioned to hate and despise the Light.
• Golgoroth is a Hive Ogre, infested with burrowing parasites related to the Worm gods and committed to Oryx’s service. One of the most powerful ogres ever known, Golgoroth was felled aboard the Dreadnaught by the same brave fireteam that delivered the Taken King his final death.
• Vanguard operatives uncovered that Golgoroth was enlisted as a vessel to both tithe violence directly to Oryx and corrupt hordes of stolen Light from Oryx’s conquests. The ogre’s flesh also served as containment for a Tablet of Ruin.

OF NOTE

• Recovered from Golgoroth’s remains, Tablet of Ruin x1.
• The item has been vaulted for proper containment.
• Deciphered Hive apocrypha suggests Golgoroth was fond of flower petals. Daughters of Savathûn would send warriors with petals stuffed beneath their chitin as deathly delights for the Ogre.

-CARETAKER-

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CLASSIFICATION

• Scorn, Abomination, altered
• Resonant
• Eliksni, former, House unknown
• Worm, altered

HAZARDS

• Scale drone swarm
• Overcharged ether blast
• Sacred dematerialization
• Resonant empowerment

INTEL

• Slain by the intrepid fireteam that stormed the Sunken Pyramid in the fetid Court of Savathûn, the Caretaker is a being of which we know little. It resembles a Scorn Abomination but has been the subject of several experiments and is believed to have been host to a Worm.
• The Caretaker was entrusted with a collection of Wormspawn as well as other entities the Witness and Rhulk had obtained to be analyzed and stored within the Pyramid.
• Reports from fireteams raiding the Sunken Pyramid mention that the Caretaker appears to have been both victim to and overseer of experiments seeking to fuse Worms and Scorn together.

OF NOTE

• Multiple fireteams have commented on what appear to be “pet” mutations that are believed to have belonged to the Caretaker. Whether these were rejected experiments or unsanctioned creations isn’t known.
• There is a discrepancy in the number of Wormspawn marked as collected from the Pyramid and those delivered to the Tower’s vault containment. Guardians who have information regarding their whereabouts should submit a report to Vanguard Leadership.

-ATRAKS-1, FALLEN EXO-

“The Wildcard”
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CLASSIFICATION

• Eliksni
• Exo(s)*
• House Salvation, Baroness
• Ex-House of Devils, Council

HAZARDS

• Modified Shock Rifle
• Extinction protocol
• Self-replication
• Teleportation
• Stasis empowerment

INTEL

• *Exos are humanoid machines that house a living mind. Atraks-1 obtained this technology from a BrayTech station orbiting Europa. Atraks’s mind commands multiples copies of her Exo frame.
• Before converting herr form, Atraks acted as Council to Eramis, Kell of House Salvation for many years. Atraks was entrusted with command of the Deepstone Crypt. She was destroyed by the Guardian fireteam that brought the Morning Star down from orbit.
• Atraks-1 created multiple copies of herself to deceive foes. Fireteams encountering this tactic in the future are advised to locate the original target and focus a simultaneous strike.
• Atraks was at one time seen as a voice of reason, an orator, able to speak to the hearts of the Eliksni youth in House Salvation.

OF NOTE

• The Hidden have relayed rumors that a copy of Atraks-1’s mind exists, stored somewhere on Europa. This has yet to be verified.
• At least two of the initial six fireteam members that destroyed Atraks-1 believe they destroyed a clone and that the real Atraks-1 still lives. This is under investigation.
• Atraks-1 was known to prefer synthetic lubricant when undergoing maintenance.

-ZO’AURC, EXPLICATOR OF PLANETS-

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CLASSIFICATION

• Manufactured
• Cabal Shadow
• Legion Incendior
• Clone

HAZARDS

• Cabal magma launcher
• Searing beam (column of flame)
• Magma launcher compression blast
• Paracausal shielding
• Resonant empowerment

INTEL

• Zo’Aurc is a Cabal clone created by the deposed Emperor Calus and is assigned to a detachment of the Shadow Legion forces aboard the Witness’s personal Pyramid ship.
• According to Vanguard decryption teams, Zo'Aurc, who was granted the title Explicator of Planets, has surveyed a collection of worlds conquered by the Black Fleet for an unknown purpose. Preliminary theories span weighing the worlds for Discipleship to searching for the Veil or a method of contributing to the Final Shape.

OF NOTE

• Reports conclude that even the Shadow Legion was not immune to Nezarec’s torment. Zo’Aurc details his own nightmares and more reports of nightmares and violent incidents among his forces.
• Zo’Aurc’s personal logs have been decoded. It seems that, whatever their official goal was, they were personally cataloging worlds that had once been part of the Cabal empire but were no more. ##The Pantheon Bungie Rewards

And if the thrill of the hunt wasn’t enough, your success in The Pantheon will nab you not only some loot in-game, but also the opportunity to add some heroic Bungie Rewards to forever mark your accomplishments, including the Godslayer Title Pin and The Pantheon Raid Ring.
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The Pantheon Raid Ring features a legendary re-envisioning of our iconic first Raid Ring, launched in 2020. Beyond the striking raid symbol as the focus of the ring, owners will also have a private reminder of the importance of loyalty in the face of adversity. Etched on the inside is a message that reads, “Glory comes easy when you have allies you can trust.” The epitome of strength and camaraderie, The Pantheon Raid Ring stands as a testament to the valor and unity found in the heat of battle. This special Bungie Rewards offer is available for purchase only to players who complete all encounters from any tier of The Pantheon in Destiny 2 by June 3, 2024.
The Godslayer Title Pin will also be available for purchase via Bungie Rewards for players who complete the Godslayer Title by June 3, 2024.

Rahool’s Frequent Decryptor Program

The experience of grinding out new Exotic armor can be a time-consuming process. It can take quite a few runs to get the drop you’re looking for, and many more to get one that has stats that support your build. Besides that, with Exotic armor pieces often forming the backbone of a powerful build, new players are regularly asked to spend a long time tackling challenging content solo before being able to run builds that support the most effective tactics.
Luckily, the Econ Team has established a good working relationship with the Tower’s Number One Cryptarch over the last year as we added Exotic armor focusing, and we have managed to help Rahool set up a new promotional program of sorts that makes farming the armor you want more deterministic and less dependent on rotators.
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Starting in The Final Shape, Rahool is going to be the source for any new Exotic armor that we release. When you first talk to Rahool after The Final Shape launch, he will introduce you to a new rewards program tied to his brand-new Reputation Track. The idea is simple: the more you decode engrams with him, the more you increase your reputation with him. Once you completely fill the reputation track once and reset your rank, Rahool will allow you into an elite club, giving you access to a new tier of focusing.
Once you become one of Rahool’s “Engram Ensiders” (he was very proud of the name, so be nice to him), you’ll be able to purchase any piece of Exotic armor for any character on your account for one Exotic engram and one Exotic cipher, in addition to the previous focusing options. Because this is tied to Rahool’s new reputation track, there is no weekly limit to using this tier of focusing; as long as you still have Exotic ciphers and engrams, you can keep rolling armor.
With this change, we are also altering the way that old sources of Exotic armor work. First, Lost Sectors will keep the same drop rates for Exotics but will instead drop engrams whenever they would have previously dropped gear. Neomuna will also still drop new Exotic armor when you complete a Vex Strike Force encounter, but we won’t be adding any more new armor to the drop list after Season of the Wish.
With these changes, we know you’re wondering, “How long will it take to get this newfangled tier of focusing? I’ve got the World’s First Race to prepare for, wot wot!” Without going into the exact numbers, the actions that will give the most reputation will be precision decryption (aka Tier 2 focusing), followed by advanced decryption, then opening an Exotic engram , and last but also least, opening a prime engram. So, if you want to be ready for the Witness’s forces as soon as possible, make sure to stock up on Exotic engrams and Ascendant Shards before June 4, as with a little more than a full stock of Exotic engrams you’ll be able to start focusing new armor.

Shader Icon Revamp

With The Final Shape, we're upgrading the look and design of the shader icon layout. Shaders are a core way a player can provide a unique look and feel to their Guardian, and we wanted to help continue to make that a better experience. Our goal with this update is to help make the shader icons more accurately reflect the colors and textures they will apply.
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Currently, there are some issues that can make the experience of applying a shader inconsistent. The first being that, while each shader applies six colors, only four are currently shown on the shader icon. This can sometimes result in the shader appearing differently than players may expect from the icon preview.
Adding to this is the fact that all four color sections of the current shader icon are equal in shape and size, making it difficult to distinguish what the main colors will be when applied. There are also many shaders that have unique glows that players strive for, and with the current design, they are not represented. Gambit Jadestone is a great example of this.
Gambit Jadestone Shader Icon - Current
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To help address these issues, we've made updates to the shader icon design that includes all six colors for that shader. We are also changing the design in a way that makes the primary colors appear to take more space than the secondary colors for a more accurate representation with most gear items. Glows are also reflected in the updated design so it will be easier to distinguish those shaders within your shader selection screens.
Gambit Jadestone Shader Icon - Updated In The Final Shape
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We tested many different design solutions for this goal, and eventually settled on adding a diamond to the center of the current icon design and changing the layout of the color slots on the icon.
We’re hoping these new improvements will offer a better experience for Guardians looking to show off their best looks.

PvP Strike Team Update

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Hello everyone, PvP Strike Team here to talk about Special ammo in the Crucible. Since Update 7.3.5, we’ve been doing a substantial amount of iteration on our Special ammo distribution systems. We’ve tried the meter system in multiple playlists as well as two different versions of the ammo crates system in Competitive, Hardware, and for a limited time in Trials. Some people asked why we are bothering to do this level of experimentation, and we’d like to explain it.
The Respawn System
The original Special ammo distribution system was brought into the game with Forsaken and, combined with allowing players to pick up ammo from defeated opponents, it eventually peaked in a short period of time where Special weapons eclipsed Primary weapons for final blows in Crucible. We walked it back several times, mostly focused on how much ammo you could pick up from bricks on the ground, but we were still left in a position of one-shot kill Special weapons making up a substantial percentage of Crucible final blows and contributing to many of the issues with sandbox readability we have discussed before.
While the respawn system had its issues and we felt there was some room for improvement, it did do a decent job of balancing ammo distribution between high- and low-performing players, with high-performing players on average utilizing Special ammo 1.5-2 times more than low performing players. Similarly, with years of the system in place, the Special weapon meta had solidified nicely. Shotguns were at the top, with around 47% of Special weapon kills. Snipers and Fusions combined to make up 43%, and all the other Special weapons were the remaining 10%.
When investigating changes to the respawn system, it became apparent that we were very limited in terms of how we could tune the system to get the desired effects, and that led us to investigate two additional systems. While we wanted to be able to solve the problem of too many one-hit kills in PvP, it was important to us that the new systems did not introduce new and potentially worse problems.
The Meter System
To understand the meter system, we first need to take you through its development. This system was originally intended to be experimental, utilized only in the temporary Labs mode, Checkmate. It was built using a combination of other existing systems co-opted from various parts of the game that allowed us to do things we could not usually do in Crucible, like retaining the state of the meter between lives and between rounds (an invisible stat on the scoreboard the game reads back every time you respawn), dropping ammo directly onto the player in a transmat (an invisible ammo crate that opens directly above you and then deletes itself), carrying the full amount of ammo over between deaths (utilizing the logic system we use in PvE activities to re-grant you ammo on spawn), and displaying the current progress of the meter (the UI bar borrowed from Exotic weapon and activities buffs).
Reception to the system in Checkmate was mixed, but we saw there was a lot of potential in our first truly “earnable” Special ammo system. Since its introduction, we have iterated on it several times, including earlier this week, and have gotten it into a much more acceptable state. Unfortunately, as the meter system has been exposed to the wider game for an extended period, we have run into two core issues which have required us to continue to look for possible solutions.
Balance Issues – The overall balance of the meter system in the wider sandbox has been concerning. It primarily benefits one player type over all others, with players who routinely perform above average in their lobbies getting the double benefits of having more Special ammo than the respawn system allowed at certain points in the game, while their opponents often have much less. In the meter system, high-performing players are earning Special ammo at 3.5 times the rate of lower-performing players, a delta which has led to many non-high-performing players abandoning Special weapons entirely. In Competitive, for example, with the meter system in use low-performing players were more likely to get kills with Heavy ammo weapons than they were with Special ammo weapons.
The weapon balance has become similarly one-sided, as it promotes Shotguns as the main solution, and all other Special weapons are perceived as no longer useful for most players when in an ammo-limited situation. Under the meter system, Shotguns have more than 76% of Special weapon kills, with Fusions and Snipers reduced to a combined 18%, and the rest of the Special weapons making up only 6%. This has led to a very “rich get richer” meta, where the best performing players and weapons are now even stronger by comparison without having to do anything differently.
Earlier this week we took steps to improve on these issues, but the difficulty we face in a system where Special ammo is almost entirely earned is that we have limited room to close the gap between high and low performers before it functionally becomes "everyone gets Special ammo on a timer," which is something we'd like to avoid.
Technical Issues – Balance problems aside, being built on tech that was not designed to be used in this way has exposed multiple issues that, upon investigation, we determined could not be easily fixed in the meter’s current state. Some things, like being unable to notify opponents that an ammo transmat has occurred or give starting ammo on join-in-progress, are already apparent to players. Other problems, which are far more significant, appear in the backend and affect how we handle several of the processes, impacting our ability to both balance and maintain the system in the long term. Functionally, these combined issues require us to rebuild the meter from the ground up as a new, dedicated system. We feel the system has shown enough merit that this is something we are undertaking for a future release.
The Crates System
As a potential fallback for the meter system, the Special ammo crates system was resurfaced and iterated upon. The crates system has several benefits from a design perspective, including the ability to place crates in key zones around the map to help encourage player movement in non-objective or objective-optional modes and prevent coagulation around a single power position, as well as offering the ability to delay Special weapon pushes in round-based modes.
The crates system has also, based on its time in Competitive and Trials, done some positive things in terms of moving Special ammo distribution closer to healthy values. The delta between high- and low-performing players has moved back to 2.4 times, and it has led to less late-game snowballing, as players who do try to hoard Special ammo lose it upon death. Weapon balance is similarly improved, although not optimal, and there is significantly increased variety with Shotguns coming down to 59% of kills, Fusions and Snipers combining for 28% of kills, and all other Special weapons increasing to 13% of kills.
Ultimately, the crates system in isolation also has several major problems. It can present a frustrating amount of friction between playing the game how you want and playing the game how you need to if you want to run a Special ammo weapon. Additionally, in round-based modes, it is too frictionless to run double Special ammo weapons. It is also the first system we have introduced that allows players to directly influence the Special ammo economy of the opposing team, as controlling most crates can help starve the other team of Special ammo.
From a strategic perspective this is an interesting mechanic, but with no other way to earn Special ammo in gameplay it serves to be more frustrating than fun, and many players have struggled to adapt to the change, causing additional friction when playing in matchmade teams.
The “Blended” 1-1-1 System
Each of the above-listed systems has both positives and negatives. In isolation, each system helps and hurts a different part of the population, but none of them holistically solves the Special ammo problem.

• The respawn system offers a safe distribution of ammo amongst players, and the ease of availability promotes special weapon diversity, but giving two kill’s worth to every player every life also results in far too many one-hit kills for a healthy sandbox.
• The meter system allows players to earn Special ammo in a deterministic way and increases the rate of earning if you’re playing well, which feels rewarding for high-performing players. On the other hand, for low-performing players, it feels significantly worse, and it promotes a homogenous Special weapon meta.
• The crate system allows us to promote movement around the map, alter push timings, reward map control, and give players more direct control over the amount of Special ammo in play for their opponents. It also causes significant friction by forcing conflict with optimal player flows and between matchmade teams, and it allows too much Special ammo in round-based modes.

The solution we have settled on is a blended system we refer to as the “1-1-1," taking parts of each of the above systems and combining them to solve the problems introduced by each system individually.

1. Players will respawn each life with one kill worth of Special ammo for their chosen weapon. This serves as a stopgap for players to make sure they are never going long amounts of time with an empty weapon and encourages more players to continue to utilize Special weapons, albeit in a limited fashion. Setting the ammo at one instead of two kill’s worth ensures that there is not a surplus of Special ammo that is available for minimum effort. Spawning with one also functions as a healthy mid-point between spawning with none in the crates system and retaining all ammo with the meter.
2. All Primary weapon final blows will drop a personal ammo brick that awards one kill’s worth of Special ammo. This is our deterministic, earnable method of distributing ammo in the blended system until our purpose-built version of the ammo meter is ready. What this means is that any of your final blows with a Primary weapon will drop an ammo brick that only you can pick up, regardless of whether the opponent you defeated had Special ammo on them. Likewise, if you defeat a player who has Special ammo using a Special ammo weapon, that will not drop a brick on the ground, so like the meter system, you cannot use Special to directly earn more Special. We will be initially introducing this specific portion of the system into the Competitive playlist starting next week, to help address player complaints about the economy in those modes.
3. Crates will continue to exist, but their icon visibility range on the HUD has been decreased, and they will only provide a single kill’s worth of Special ammo when opened. These crates will continue to serve as points of interest around a map, but it will no longer be a requirement for players to interact with them to partake in the Special ammo system. They will instead function as a small bonus for players who take the time to engage with them and an optional mid-point step for players to gain Special ammo that is more effort than simply respawning with it, but less effort than getting a Primary weapon final blow.

We’re very excited to introduce this system sometime after the launch of The Final Shape, and we greatly appreciate your patience and feedback as we have continued experimenting in our ongoing effort to improve the Crucible.

Superblack Shader Now Available

With the final two BRAVE weapons available this week, players will receive the final quests needed to unlock the much-anticipated Superblack shader. Players can unlock the shader by earning the Superblack Key Alpha from Shaxx, and Superblack Key Omega from Arcite 90-40. Using both will grant you access to the Superblack Containment and to the shader. If you’re a Hunter…er…a player of any class, you’ll want to grab this new Shader and look your finest.

Player Support Report

Reject modernity. Embrace tradition. Equip Anarchy.
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Known Issues List Help Forums Bungie Help Twitter

WINDOWS 7 AND 8 SUPPORT
Beginning on June 4, 2024, Destiny 2 is ending support for Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 operating systems. This decision is to align with Steam and Microsoft ending support for these systems.
Destiny 2 may continue running on these older operating systems after June 4, 2024, but we are unable to guarantee continued functionality after that date.
Players using these operating systems to play Destiny 2 are urged to upgrade to a more recent version of Windows or move to another platform so that their playtime won't be interrupted.
For more information, please view our Windows 7 and 8 Support article.
PANTHEON CHECKPOINTS
Due to an issue preventing players from progressing in The Pantheon when joining at a checkpoint, we have disabled checkpoints for The Caretaker and Zo'aurc, Explicator of Planets. We are attempting to resolve this issue as soon as possible and will provide an update when we have more information to share.
ARCHIE QUEST INFORMATION
We've seen confusion surrounding the weekly Archie Hunt quests and wanted to offer clarification. These quests are only intended to be available for one week each and were made with this time limit in mind. We understand that this is not ideal for all players, which is why we made the shader available for one completion for any of the weekly quests. The lore attached to these triumphs will become available to all players when The Final Shape launches on June 4.
KNOWN ISSUES
While we continue investigating various known issues, here is a list of the latest issues that were reported to us in our #Help Forum:

• In Onslaught, players may be teleported back to the incorrect ADU location after completing certain phases.
• The ADU in Onslaught can occasionally despawn.
• On rare occasions, the Spark in Onslaught can be lost.
• The portal to leave a boss phase in Onslaught will sometimes not open when killing a boss too quickly.
• BRAVE weapons The Recluse and Hammerhead don’t highlight enemies like their previous models.

For a full list of emergent issues in Destiny 2, review our Known Issues article. Players who observe other issues should report them to our #Help forum.

Titan Smash(ed)

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To be a Titan is to live and die by the melee, even if that means a gruesome but spectacular death.
Movie of the Week:
[
Image Link^{imgur](https://www.reddit.com/destiny2/comments/1c8ve7a/the_most_titan_way_to_die/)}

Final God Of Pain

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For a Final God of Pain, Nezarec is pretty stylish and colorful. Probably because we are not sharing that Superblack shader with him.
Art of the Week: AliveWake via TwitteX
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That’s everything we have for this week. Hopefully you’re enjoying The Pantheon so far. Remember, this is only the first wave of bosses and more are on the way. It only gets more fun from here. And we swear that wasn’t an evil laugh we were stifling, it was just…a cough. cough
We’ll be back next week with another TWID. Until then, be good to each other, and thanks for hanging out with us.

Destiny 2 Community Team

TLDR: I have several job offers I believe will come in on differing timelines, but I lack experience with negotiation and communication in this space. I would appreciate advice.
About me: I work in public k-12 charters currently, in a mid-large sized district. I have 10 years in the classroom, highly 'decorated' (top 2% for student outcomes in the state, best in district results, teacher of the year, lots of teacher leadership roles writing district curriculum, training others, leading events, etc.).
I then have 4 years working at the district level and 1 year working as an assistant principal resident--it's not quite an internship, I was doing the actual job as an 'extra AP' on campus but then halfway through the year we lost an AP and did not rehire, so I took on more than 50% of AP duties for the remainder of the year.
In the 4 years at central level, I also moved through 3 different roles, each a promotion, with significant measurable results included on my resume that I can speak to. I think I'm a "right time" kind of person right now in that I have significant experience in foundational literacy---a bit of a hot topic in education right now, and I was on the front end of that. I led state-level training of teachers and school leaders in research-based best practices and have run several pilots and district-wide implementations of "High quality instructional materials (HQIM)"--also a bit of a hot topic right now.
I've also worked for a year as a contract consultant with a big non-profit, mission driven organization working with HQIM implementation in multiple states.
I have strong references, a strong body of work, I think I interview well, and I think I have a rare combination of skillsets in education, having been a top performer across multiple roles--classroom, coaching, professional development, managing, school leadership, central office leadership, program management, and cross-functional team management.
Roles:
Role 1: Charter org director level role: * This is the one I want least and I am overqualified for. * While it's a director role that pays 20% more than my current and has a director title that I want to get, it's not work I really want to do. In fact, it's more or less the same work I did two roles back, directly coaching teachers, directly coaching leaders, and leading professional development. I've done that, and I'm looking to get into more manager-level roles because honestly that's the only way up in education. * Also, despite the director title, there's no direct reports. * I think they really want me, because I am a bit overqualified for this role because of my early adopter work in foundational literacy and HQIMs. They already agreed to shift the salary 8% up from their original offer (my ask was 10% up). * People I trust say about the org: "stay away" "wouldn't touch it" "only heard bad things". But people would say that about my org too, and people have different experiences, and lots of people work at this org for many many years. * This role would be 3 days at a school site, 2 days WFH, ~30-40 minute commute.
Role 2: Consulting role: * This consulting role is with one of the bigger 'names' in education, compared to the smaller org I work with. It's still a non-profit mission driven org, but they're more influential. Honestly a lot of people, school leaders and central office admin, look to get jobs here and can't. * I don't have an offer yet but I am waiting to hear back and pretty confident. * Role is again, HQIM implementation, still a big topic in education. * Not a director title with this one, and still no direct reports or management. * The salary is similar, but they've been clear there's no wiggle room to the top end of their scale, which would be where the first role's first offer was. So 8% lower at best. * The role is 40% travel, which is really hard, but overall I think a much more influential role with a more impactful 'brand name' on it for future career options. * Also probably more room for movement within the company. * They also seem like a really good org that puts their money where their mouth is in valuing employees and work experience. I won't hear back from them until next week.
Role 3: Different consulting role, but not consulting * Last one is a different org which focuses on disruption, but still mission driven nonprofit. * Least applicable to my measurable results/experiences, but not outside of my ability. It's not foundational literacy or HQIM work, but still in the scope of my roles. * Start of range is in line with role 2, so probably in between role 1 and role 2. * Remote, with 25% travel, only 1-2 days 1-2 times a month. * Unsure if it has direct reports, but comes with director title and seems to be more in line with project management work/cross functional teams work. It definitely feels less "on the ground" and "more of the same", which really speaks to me. * Org seems very well-regarded if not as well known, and is growing recently. * Mission really speaks to me, in doing innovative work, not "helping shit districts catch up to already in place innovations" which is what HQIM work is closer to. * Only completed round 1 interview. Looking at a performance task, panel interview, some informal conersations, then a final interview and reference check, where they also refer to "outreach to mutual connections". Timeline is looking like early June for an answer.
My wants:
I want Role 3>Role 2>Role 1 in that order, preferably without burning bridges at any of these 3 organizations.
Now I've asked for time to consider role 1. I expect to get role 2 next week, where I plan to decline role 1 and take role 2. I'll reference some templates and AIs on how to professionally communicate on these fronts, but I appreciate any input on this. My plan would then be that if I do get Role 3, just try to professionally apologize to role 2 and take the role 3, understanding that I'll be burning that bridge.
My issue is: it appears the final interviewer at Role 1 who has a high level title (think just below executive level) and offered me the job, who I already asked for time to consider the offer. It appears that this person just left the organization I'm interviewing for Role 3 at just a few months ago. More than that, the listed "reports to" on Role 3 shares the same uncommon, ethnic last name as the interviewer at Role 1. Only one of these two people appears to be of that ethnic background (the other white), and both bios reference living in the same city with spouse and X children.
In other words, it appears highly likely that I'll be interviewing with the spouse of the person I'm currently treating as a 'backup'. Am I worried over nothing? Is it worth addressing this up front? By the time I interview for Role 3, I will either have negotiated for and accepted Role 1, or negotiated for and declined Role 1. And again, the spouses are hiring managers for these two different companies.
If anyone has any advice, particularly in the k-12 ed space on this, I'd appreciate your thoughts.

Good afternoon to my low-sodium brothers/sisters/siblings of the Ten Thousand!
It's been great to see positivity and productive discussion on our new codex, moving forward through some of the challenges the faction community has faced. I am currently in the building process for a Talons list, and am hoping that this can be a thread for discussion of stratagy, tactics, and gameplay of the detachment.
My current concept is as follows:
-Core units are focused on being an oppressive melee force, as they always have. Additionally, I'm excited to explore some of the reactive movement abilities in Talons. A true "you're stuck in here with me" style of play that operates on tying up enemy units and area denial. Difficult with few units, which is why I'm hoping to leverage reactive movement. Another feature is including detachment buffs to bolster these forces. -Supporting this is long range firepower in the form of two grav tanks, and potentially an assassin.
The biggest issue I've run into so far is the high cost of including shield captains for the free stratagem. Custodes are already very CP hungry, but I'm having a difficult time justifying the plain shield captain.
But this is not a "how is my list" post. Rather, I'm curious how others might be conceptually approaching this detachment and the decisions they have made. Do you run a few smaller units of sisters with a transport, or favor a block of vigilators with Aleya? How do we effectively deploy and setup the board in the first few turns? Excited to hear what everyone is making of this detachment!

A list of posts about Israel and Palestine on /Social_Democracy
Format of this list:
[Title of post]
[Link to source of post]
[Timestamp of post]
List:
Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said the U.S. should not take in any Palestinian refugees if they flee the Gaza Strip because they “are all antisemitic” and he dismissed international entreaties for Israel to provide clean running water and utilities to the civilians in the territory.
https://apnews.com/article/desantis-israel-hamas-gaza-palestinian-refugees-water-73a468f8d030e083844d16e82684c406
Mon Oct 16 14:17:24 2023 UTC
Progressive activist and Reverend William J. Barber II: We Must Be Emphatic in Saying 'No' to Hamas. An unequivocal 'no' to the actors within Hamas who chose to commit these heinous acts does not dismiss history and the oppression of Palestinian people.
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/hamas-israel
Tue Oct 17 14:31:10 2023 UTC
Republican Speaker Mike Johnson is seeking to pay for aid to Israel by slashing $14.3 billion from IRS
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/speaker-mike-johnson-israel-aid-fight-biden-irs-rcna122868
Tue Oct 31 21:09:28 2023 UTC
Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Peter Welch, and Jeff Merkley Send Urgent Letter to President Biden Amid Israel’s Invasion and Potential Occupation of Gaza "The United States must take a leading role in charting out a future that respects the lives of Palestinians and Israelis alike."
https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-warren-welch-merkley-send-urgent-letter-to-president-biden-amid-israels-invasion-and-potential-occupation-of-gaza/
Thu Nov 2 14:27:33 2023 UTC
GOP House Majority Leader Scalise defends IRS cuts in GOP's Israel aid bill, refuses to say 2020 election was legitimate
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/scalise-defends-irs-cuts-gops-israel-aid-bill/story?id=104635772
Sun Nov 5 19:32:49 2023 UTC
More than 500 Biden campaign alumni want a Gaza ceasefire
https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2023/11/9/23953714/biden-campaign-alumni-want-gaza-ceasefire-state-department-dissent-memo
Fri Nov 10 19:06:27 2023 UTC
World Council of Churches calls for immediate end to brutal violence in Gaza
https://www.oikoumene.org/news/wcc-calls-for-immediate-end-to-brutal-violence-in-gaza
Fri Jan 5 13:35:35 2024 UTC
180 State and Local Elected Officials Sign Open Letter to President Biden Calling for a Ceasefire
https://www.jvpaction.org/state-and-local-elected-officials-open-letter-to-president-biden-calling-for-a-ceasefire/
Fri Jan 12 18:01:40 2024 UTC
‘We are dying slowly:’ Palestinians are eating grass and drinking polluted water as famine looms across Gaza
https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/30/middleeast/famine-looms-in-gaza-israel-war-intl/index.html
Sat Feb 3 19:53:35 2024 UTC
Seven national unions and over two hundred local unions have announced the formation of the National Labor Network for Ceasefire (NLNC) to expand support for a ceasefire in Gaza.
https://www.laborforceasefire.org/new-national-labor-network-formed-to-end-the-death-and-devastation-in-the-israel-hamas-wa
Sun Feb 18 14:28:18 2024 UTC
Conservative Republican congressman Andy Ogles, responding to an activist telling him that children in Gaza were being killed by American-supplied bombs: "I think we should kill 'em all ... It's time to pay the piper." [Clarification: Ogles specified killing "Hamas"]
https://www.commondreams.org/news/andy-ogles-gaza
Wed Feb 21 15:39:44 2024 UTC
Trump breaks silence on Israel's military campaign in Gaza: 'Finish the problem'
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-israel-gaza-finish-problem-rcna141905
Thu Mar 7 15:12:17 2024 UTC
House Republicans Want to Ban Universal Free School Lunches: The Republican Study Committee’s annual budget also calls to permanently defund the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), eliminate the National Labor Relations Board, and raise the retirement age.
https://theintercept.com/2024/03/21/house-republicans-ban-universal-school-lunches/
Fri Mar 22 15:07:53 2024 UTC
Michigan Republican congressman suggests nuking Gaza, ending humanitarian aid GOP congressman Tim Walberg: "It should be like Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Get it over quick ... We shouldn't be spending a dime on humanitarian aid"
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2024/03/30/michigan-congressman-tim-walberg-suggests-nuking-gaza-ending-humanitarian-aid-nagasaki-hiroshima/73156051007/
Sun Mar 31 14:09:13 2024 UTC
Former officials speak out against Biden’s Israel support after aid worker killings: ‘No one can change his mind’
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/joe-biden-israel-arms-gaza-b2523435.html
Fri Apr 5 14:56:42 2024 UTC
Ukrainian letter of solidarity with the Palestinian people As Russia wages a genocidal war in Ukraine, more than 300 Ukrainian scholars, activists, and artists have signed a letter in solidarity with Palestinians as Israel lays siege to Gaza. (November 2023)
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/11/8/ukrainian-letter-of-solidarity-with-the-palestinian
Sat Apr 6 14:59:22 2024 UTC
Trump says Jews who vote for Biden do 'not love Israel' and 'should be spoken to' Trump claimed that Democrats don't want to talk about the October 7 attacks because Biden "is no fan of Israel." Trump said that Biden is "totally on the side of Palestinians."
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-says-jews-vote-biden-not-love-israel-spoken-rcna146972
Tue Apr 9 15:43:37 2024 UTC
Trump tells billionaires he'll keep their taxes low at $50 million fundraising gala Trump also spoke about "eliminating Joe Biden's insane [electric vehicle] mandate" and "protecting Israel"
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-tells-billionaires-ll-keep-taxes-low-50-million-fundraising-gala-rcna146748
Thu Apr 11 19:07:59 2024 UTC
Pro-Israel US groups plan $100m effort to unseat progressives over Gaza
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/ap20/pro-israel-groups-gaza-us-elections
Sat Apr 20 19:15:18 2024 UTC
Video: Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson defends Israel when CNN's Erin Burnett asks about children dying ‘at Israel’s hands’
https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/24/politics/video/house-speaker-mike-johnson-protests-columbia-university-israel-hamas-war-ebof-digvid
Fri Apr 26 17:50:47 2024 UTC
Violent Arrest of Emory Professor Spotlights Brutality of Police Crackdown on Campus Protests Foreign policy expert: "To sustain this level of blind support for Israel, the U.S. must erode its own democracy. And that is what we see happening on U.S. campuses now."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/emory-protests-arrests
Sat Apr 27 15:58:43 2024 UTC
NBC News investigation reveals Israel strikes on Gaza areas it said were safe NBC News found Palestinians were killed in seven deadly airstrikes in areas of southern Gaza that the Israeli military had explicitly designated as safe zones.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/palestinians-killed-israeli-strikes-safe-zones-exclusive-nbc-report-rcna148008
Sun Apr 28 17:23:16 2024 UTC
Israel Police establishes Judea and Samaria [West Bank] ‘anti-anarchist’ unit: The special team works under the command of far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
https://www.jns.org/israel-police-establishes-judea-and-samaria-anti-anarchist-unit/
Mon Apr 29 15:52:07 2024 UTC
Trump is condemning the campus protests against Israel's disproportionately destructive war in Gaza: "STOP THE PROTESTS NOW!!!"
https://web.archive.org/web/20240429113748/https:/truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/112354005352092745
Mon Apr 29 18:22:23 2024 UTC
Postdoctoral Research Scholar at Columbia University: Trump Is Wrong. Columbia Isn’t Anything Like Charlottesville Trump has recently said that the anti-war protests are worse than the 2017 alt-right and neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-is-wrong-columbia-isnt-anything-like-charlottesville
Tue Apr 30 22:06:43 2024 UTC
Why are US campuses facing an orgy of state repression in the ‘land of the free’? Political extremism expert Cas Mudde: The right has painted nonviolent protests against the war on Gaza as hotbeds of ‘woke’ terrorism. It’s a pretext for repression.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/ap30/us-campus-peace-protests-overreaction-gaza
Wed May 1 15:55:39 2024 UTC
Top UN Human Rights Official Raises Alarm Over Repression of Student Protests: Over 1200 protesters have been arrested across dozens of campuses UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk & UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Mary Lawlor have raised alarms over campus crackdowns
https://truthout.org/articles/top-un-human-rights-official-raises-alarm-over-repression-of-student-protests/
Wed May 1 18:00:24 2024 UTC
Amos Goldberg: Yes, it is genocide Amos Goldberg, a Holocaust and genocide researcher at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, says that Israel's actions in Gaza amount to genocide.
https://thepalestineproject.medium.com/yes-it-is-genocide-634a07ea27d4
Wed May 1 19:10:53 2024 UTC
Hundreds Of Former Obama Staffers Slam White House For Not Doing Enough For Gaza: Alumni of the Obama campaign and White House urged Obama and President Biden to take decisive action to end the suffering in the Palestinian territory.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/former-staffers-obama-biden-gaza_n_66314938e4b0c9bc8759337f
Thu May 2 15:37:31 2024 UTC
United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain: "The UAW will never support the mass arrest or intimidation of those exercising their right to protest, strike, or speak out against injustice. Our union has been calling for a ceasefire ... This war is wrong, and this response against students ... is wrong"
https://uaw.org/comment-from-uaw-president-shawn-fain-on-mass-arrests-of-anti-war-protestors/
Thu May 2 15:59:06 2024 UTC
Background:
Due to a combination of personal beliefs and disgust with October 7 and the apologetics and reductive discourse around it, I had largely managed to avoid focusing on Israel's war in Gaza, compared to other leftist spaces.
While researching Russian atrocities in Ukraine, I was struck by cognitive dissonance at my empathy for Ukraine compared with my silence on Gaza, especially as apologists for Israel's war in Gaza have persisted in making callous excuses for Israel's unjustly brutal war and overall conduct, which we are complicit in, in contrast to the more positive role of the United States in Ukraine's justified war of self-defense against the Russian invasion.
One of the last straws of my reluctance to criticize Israel is that I have seen too many of my fellow social democrats defend a disproportionately brutal war fueled by reactionary sentiments, waged by a reactionary government, with primarily reactionary allies such as the Republican Party that is lead by Donald Trump and Mike Johnson in the United States, that is antithetical to a faithful commitment to social democratic principles, ethics, and values.
And if these mistaken social democrats and liberals are not defending Israel's war, many of them are carrying water for reactionary attacks on the anti-war protesters by hyperfocusing on transgressions (whether it's bigotry, ignorance, incivility, civil disobedience, etc.) while these protesters are opposing a lopsided conflict.
I am not saying that we shouldn't criticize the truly bad flaws of some protesters (such as actual incidents of antisemitism, pro-Hamas apologia, etc.), but I am saying that we should have a balanced perspective, and I say this because there is a lack of balance on too many social democratic and liberal spaces, hence the ubiquity of callous justifications for Israel's illegal war in Gaza as well as support for crackdowns on campus protests and civil disobedience (e.g. encampments) based on appeals to legalism.
Just like the protests against Israel's war in Gaza, earlier protests from the civil rights and anti-war movements had flaws and utilized tactics that reactionaries were willing to exploit as a pretext for undue repression, as well as mistaken social democrats who were, wittingly or not, carrying water for the reactionaries seeking to repress these protests, enable the continued perpetration of atrocities, and to brainwash or intimidate the masses into believing that there is no alternative to the immoral policies of the government.
As flawed or disruptive as many protesters can be, the anti-war protests of today are overwhelmingly justified, just like the protests against World War I, the Vietnam War, Apartheid South Africa, and the Iraq War.

"I agree these are freighters, we need to get these people to safety. There's an Asteroid Belt in far orbit of Roshak, if we make a full burn we can make it there before the armada can catch up to us" Amere says
"We can station my battle group and harry them along the way. Great thinking" she says over the com
Ajax nods at you "we have to get these people to safety"
"Aye, let's get a move on before that armada collects itself and makes for us" the captain says
The Freighters joined by dozens from across Roshak form up and make for the Asteroid Belt while Amere and her battle group play rear guard.
On high alert you see a wing of fighters approaching
"Here they come" says Ajax
You focus and fire 1...2...3... Down
A Beam of erotic transmissions hits the side of the freighter and your head dazes over
"Aahhhh they aren't playing anymore! Those are more powerful!" Ajax yells "keep focus we are almost there"
From your birds eye view of the freighter you see half the Capital Ships from the Armada pursuing you
You fire again and again at the wings of fighters bombarding you.
Energy Signature Warning
"They are aiming at us!!!" The captain yells "almost into shelter!!"
The bombardment hits you again as you fire your weapons again and again and again at the source of it
Your head starts to kill back and forth. Foaming st the mouth. So much... Too much..can't... Hold... Out....
Clear again as the freighter moves behind an asteroid, as it starts to navigate the belt
As the last freighter enters the belt Amere sets up a circle of frieighters in a clearing in the belt
Her frigate heading back towards the enemy
The Arbiter capital ships too big to enter the belt quickly slowly follow you in. Their fighter wings and smaller frigates and corsairs darting in and around the asteroids fighting Amere's battle group.
Explosions ripple through the Asteroid Belt as Amere overloads the energy drives of the reprogramming ships. Two Capital Ship list to the side and collide with Asteroids.
"Yahoooo!!! Those traps worked outstanding two Capital ships downed!!" Ajax yells
"Our battle group is falling back to the clearing and the Capitol ships are getting closer to us" Ajax says with a quiet to him
Amere's Frigate bursts into the circle being chased by three enemy corsair ships, it banks hard left downward and in and elegant swoop deploys a neon blue beam slicing the corsairs to pieces.
Dominion corsair ships follow and form up on Amere's flanks. The explosives bought them some breathing room.
A Capital ship turns it's aim on the Freighters
A wing of Sex-wings swoop into the clearing from the side of the Arbiter ship, spiraling like a corkscrew
You recognize that maneuver... THATS THE IRON LEGION
"Executing Irondeck's Battering Ram" you hear over com
The sex-wings spiral and spiral unleashing a hail of energy and railgun fire on the Capital Ship. It's shield fails magnificently just before the wing makes contact.
They pull HARD up and drop ordinances all along the ship.
Soaring back into formation the Capital Ship lists to the side behind them as eruptions explode from its hull. The explosion sends debris flying into the Arbiter line.
The Legion forms up draws up in front of the freighters.
"The Legion stands together!!" They say to your coms
Ajax whispers softly..." We have this, with the Legion, we just need to stand together. Trust in Amere"
Amere suddenly comes in all the coms
"PEOPLE OF ROSHAK!! Let this be the hour when we draw swords together, fell deeds awake!! NOW FOR WRATH, NOW FOR RUIN, AND THE DOMINION!!" Her voice reverberates through the entire fleet.
"ACTIVATE ALL TRACTOR BEAMS!! AND PUUUUUSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
Her ship dives down and charges the largest capital ship shield on max blocking the freighter
"You heard her!! Into the breach!! PUUUSSSHHHHHH!!!!"" Ajax yells
The entire freighter fleet, follows behind Amere and her corsairs fanning out, all tractor beams pushing with full power.
The asteroids seem to creak.. you swear the slightest movement... And they start to accelerate.. pushing into the Capital Ships
An explosion! An arbiter ship on the far left explodes as an asteroid slams it into another
Then another explosion, and another
"WE CAN WIN!! FORWARD!!" AJAX yells
All your hair seems to be standing on edge as you lean forward and PUUUUUSSSSHHHHHH as hard as you can
BBBBBBBBBOOOOOOMMMMMMMM your freighter shudders as the Arbiters start to blow up the asteroids sending a hail of small meteors against your shields..
Amere's shield is growing red about to fail
"KEEEPPPPP GOING!!!"" she yells her frigate sending out a thunderous sound into the bleakness of space like a rallying call
A DOZEN NEON PINK BEAMS slice the Arbiter ship in front of Amere is sliced in two
A sharp imperious voice comes over the coms
"SURROUND THE SURVIVORS, FORWARD!!!!" The voice of the Archon yells
A dozen wings of corsairs and sex-wings surge into the breach in the Arbiter line swooping around and charging
The Destroyed Arbiter ship drifts apart as the flagship of the Dominion, Emera's Glory, pushes it aside neon pink energy beams shooting in every direction cutting through capital ships causing a wave of destruction across the theater
Emera's Glory enters the clearing in the belt turning sharply to blocking the Arbiters line of fire on the freighters
The Archon's ship focuses all of its tractor beams and PPUUUSSHHHHESSSS all the asteroid moves in orbit and crush the remainder of the Arbiter fleet, the Emera's Glory gleaming in the sunlight pink and Silver victorious
GLORY TO THE DOMINION, GLORY TO THE ARCHON!
GLORY TO THE DOMINION, GLORY TO THE ARCHON!
GLORY TO THE DOMINION, GLORY TO THE ARCHON!
GLORY TO THE DOMINION, GLORY TO THE ARCHON!
"FORWARD!! LET NO ARBITER SURVIVE THIS DAY!! FORWARD TO VICTORY!!" The Archon yells into the com
Hours later, on the surface of Roshak again the populace celebrate cheering your name as bit of asteroids fall through the atmosphere lighting up the sky like fireworks, the light of the moons serenely reflecting from the noble crystal buildings.
You smile to yourself... Victory

A follow up from my post yesterday
Does it solve a problem?
Ok, homies, so if you get to the point where you're going to invest in a travel CPAP, you likely have a problem you're trying to solve. I think the "problem" for people generally falls into a few different buckets. Here are my takes on those different buckets for treatment:

1. Size/weight
   1. The thing is light as a feather (...stiff as a board - good quality plastic). It's also super small. Like the size of a fist or of a baseball. See other post for a size comparison with the Airsense 11. It's almost... too small? Like, it doesn't have enough weight to hold itself against nighttime movements if you're an active sleeper and your hose moves a lot. That being said, it really delivers on being the smallest commercially available CPAP on the market. You could put it in a (big) pocket or easily throw it, your mask, and a small battery into a weekend backpacking backpack and have a very enjoyable weekend in the woods.
2. Convenience/Portability
   1. It's a faff to unplug your regular machine, pack it up, take it with you, bring it home, unpack it, etc etc. If you're looking for a machine to put in your "go" bag, or if you're in a profession where you may be on call and not know where you're going to be sleeping the next day, the Micro is convenient in that it'll fit anywhere and allow you to keep your daily driver at home with the comfort of knowing you'll be covered wherever your day takes you.
3. Power usage
   1. I camp!! A lot! Sometimes for more than a few days in a row. The Airsense 11 simply draws too much power for it to be a viable solution for anything more than a day or two. I ran the Micro for 9 hours last night using my 500w powerstation (which weighs like 5 pounds), and it only depleted 10% of the battery. Easily 8 days off grid with no problems, possibly a day or two more.

So, yes, I think it solves a few problems and it solves them very well!
Is it feature-rich enough to not feel like a downgrade when you're on the road?
For me, there are several things I really love about my daily driver (Airsense 11). Here's how the Micro compares:

• Intelligent ramp technology
  • The Micro has ramp settings you can configure, but it doesn't have AutoRamp like the 11 does. I like that the 11 waits until I'm asleep to detect pressure. Sometimes it takes me 10 minutes to fall asleep and sometimes it takes me 45. I do miss the AutoRamp, and if this is something you care a lot about, it might be worth it to look at the AirMini. This wasn't a deal breaker for me, but I do notice its absence.
• humidification
  • A water tank is going to be better, fullstop. But the Micros's HME filter worked well, and it worked with the p30i mask with the top hose attachment that I use. I had to be like, 10% more strategic about how I placed the hose because the HME adds weight and can feel odd if you don't position it right, but I didn't notice it much and woke up without feeling dried out.
• Sound (or its absence <3 )
  • My 11 makes basically no noise. The Micro makes Noise. In a room absent any other sound, you will absolutely, 100%, definitely hear this thing. If you're like me and need white noise to sleep, a fan, air conditioner, or the white noise play list on spotify will do an adequate job masking it enough to where it won't be a problem. I was still able to sort of hear the "hee haw" over my fan last night, but it wasn't annoying/barely noticeable. If you go looking for the noise, though, you'll find it. It's there.
• Data/reporting
  • The Micro has an app you can use for high level trends similar to MyAir. There's also a desktop app if you want more detailed reporting. No SD card, though.
• Algorithms that power its APAP functionality
  • My AHI last night was .3 with the Micro. It's usually .3-.7 with my Airsense 11. It'll go the distance and keep you breathing easy all night without concern.

There wasn't a ton written about this device when I was researching it, so I hope someone finds this information helpful.
Happy to answer any questions you might have!

Okay, I want to get started by saying that I am a teenager, and due to that I can't play everything. Only recently was I allowed to begin playing some rated M titles, but not all of them. Only the ones that don't involve constant realistic killing like Resident Evil. Or constant flashes/"psychodelic effects" like DMC or Bayonetta. Or extreme difficulty like Soulslikes. Yeah, it's pretty strict, I know.
Hence I have made a list of titles I can play, and wanted to ask yall your opinion on which of these are the best ones and the ones I should try first. By the time I finish playing through all, I will be old enough to tackle other games. Also, if I missed any games that are similar to the ones on my list, please tell them and I'll add them to my wishlist. Keep in mind I don't have a Console, so I can only play games found on Steam. And I'm very keen on Completionism, so please tell me if some of these games are like impossible to get all achievements on (i.e The Binding of Isaac).
I also like playing games in Chronological order within a series, so while I have games like Rift Apart on my Wishlist, until the other Ratchet and Clank games come to Steam(if ever) or I get a Playstation, I'd rather not play it yet.
Before showing the Wishlist, I'll list the games I have already played and enjoyed(but not necessarily 100%ed) so yall know what type of stuff I like, those being:

• Hollow Knight
• Terraria
• Minecraft
• Guacamelee 1 and 2
• Lego Marvel Super Heroes 1 and 2
• Lego Marvel's Avengers
• Both Ori Games
• The Lego Movie Videogame
• Marvel's Spiderman
• Greek God of War games minus Ascension
• God of War 2018
• ARK: Survival Evolved
• Dungeon Defenders 1
• Dead Cells
• Celeste
• Cuphead

Now, onto the Wishlist

• The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
• Lego DC Supervillains
• Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
• Marvel’s Spiderman: Miles Morales
• Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart
• Little Nightmares
• Little Nightmares 2
• Control
• Borderlands 1
• Borderlands 2
• Borderlands 3
• Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
• Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands
• Darksiders 1: Warmastered Edition
• Darksiders 2: Deathinitive Edition
• Darksiders 3
• Diablo 3
• Diablo 4
• Destroy All Humans Remake
• Destroy All Humans 2: Reprobed
• Final Fantasy 15
• Final Fantasy 7: Remake (16 & Rebirth not on Steam)
• Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
• Risk of Rain 2
• Hades
• The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
• Uncharted Legacy of Thieves Collection
• Subnautica & Below Zero
• Psychonauts
• Psychonauts 2
• A Plague Tale: Innocence
• A Plague Tale: Requiem
• Return of the Obra Dinn
• Outer Wilds
• Dragon’s Dogma
• Dragon’s Dogma 2
• Monster Hunter: World (I played some of this one, but Idk if this or Rise is better. Most of my issues with World seem to have been fixed in Rise tho(Lack of aerial movement without Sky Lance, having to chase down creatures, boss battle being far too long, spending way too much time trying to find the monster), so maybe that?)
• Monster Hunter: Rise
• Dragon Age: Origins
• Dragon Age 2
• Dragon Age: Inquisition
• Batman: Arkham Origins
• Batman: Arkham Asylum
• Batman: Arkham City
• Batman: Arkham Knight
• Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
• Hogwarts Legacy
• Horizon: Zero Dawn
• Horizon: Forbidden West
• Soma
• Inside
• Untitled Goose Game
• Katana Zero
• Death's Door
• Deep Rock Galactic
• Helldivers 2
• The Outer Worlds
• No Man's Sky
• Wild Hearts
• Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2
• Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
• Middle-Earth: Shadow of War
• Evil West
• Nier: Replicant
• Nier: Automata
• V Rising
• Portal
• Portal 2
• Stray
• The Stanley Parable
• Ghost of Tsushima
• Grounded
• Armored Core 6
• Escape the Backrooms
• Nightingale
• Bioshock
• Bioshock 2
• Bioshock Infinite
• Tomb Raider
• Rise of the Tomb Raider
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider

So, which one of those would you recommend me to start with? Are there any others I missed that fit my criteria? I didn't include some games like Mass Effect due to not being sure if it falls under the "constant realistic killing" category. Didn't include games like Persona or Baldur's Gate because I'm not so sure if I like the genre, and I rather play some other stuff I know I will enjoy before tackling those
Suffice it to say that I'm mainly looking for Singleplayer games or games with a Singleplayer campaign, not so much MMORPGs or Multiplayer games. Also

Hey guys, I need your help with a mystery (bug?) I encountered in Grounded. I recorded a clip showing a strange situation: when I open the menu, I notice a list of active buffs, including one that grants me an increase in movement speed at the very bottom with no timer, so it was permanent. I joined my friend's server, and surprisingly, only I had this buff active. I checked the inventory and mutations, but I can't figure out how I got this buff in the first place. Does anyone have any ideas on how it's possible to get this buff? I'm open to any suggestions or explanations because I'm really confused! Also, after dying and respawning, the buff disappeared, which makes it even stranger. Thanks in advance for your help!
Hey guys, I need your help with a mystery (bug?) I encountered in Grounded. I recorded a clip showing a strange situation: when I open the menu, I notice a list of active buffs, including one that grants me an increase in movement speed at the very bottom with no timer, so it was permanent. I joined my friend's server, and surprisingly, only I had this buff active. I checked the inventory and mutations, but I can't figure out how I got this buff in the first place. Does anyone have any ideas on how it's possible to get this buff? I'm open to any suggestions or explanations because I'm really confused! Also, after dying and respawning, the buff disappeared, which makes it even stranger. Thanks in advance for your help!

Tell me how to Fix my game's player's code. If you fic it, you get to be in the credits of my game.
Now with that setup: You'll know that if you've seen any of my posts here this past week, my character's code is Kinda F***ed. What began as getting crushed by slope objects has devolved into more issues like not being able to jump onto Semi Solid platforms and vanishing when I crawl into a corner of a wall. And I cannot stress this enough: I want to be TOLD how to fix this. No Implied code, just pure, unfiltered fact. This is the bribery I'm willing to resort to because of how desperate I am. Please help me here.
Now here's the code: Godspeed to anyone who wants to try
Create event
//Custom functions for Player
function setOnGround(_val = true)
{
if _val == true
{
onGround = true;
hangTimer = hangFrames;
} else {
onGround = false;
myFloorPlat = noone;
hangTimer = 0;
}
}
function semiSolidCheck(_x, _y)
{
//Create a return variable
var _rtrn = noone;
//we must not be moving upwards and then we must check for a normal collision
if yspd >= 0 && place_meeting( _x, _y, TileSemiSolidTerrain )
{
//create a DS list to store all colliding instances of TileSemiSolidTerrain
var _list = ds_list_create();
var _listSize = instance_place_list( _x, _y, TileSemiSolidTerrain, _list, false );
//Loop through the colliding instances and only return one if it's top is below the player
for( var i = 0; i < _listSize; i++ )
{
var _listInst = _list[ i];
if floor(bbox_bottom) <= ceil( _listInst.bbox_top - _listInst.yspd )
{
//Return the id of a semisolid platform
_rtrn = _listInst;
//Exit the loop early
i = _listSize;
}
}
//destroy ds list to free memory
ds_list_destroy(_list);
}
//Return our variable
return _rtrn;
}
depth = -30;
​
Step event
//Control setup
controlsSetup()
//Sprites
maskSpr = sPlayerIdle;
idleSpr = sPlayerIdle;
walkSpr = sPlayerWalk;
jumpSpr = sPlayerJump;
fallSpr = sPlayerFall;
crouchSpr = sPlayerCrouch;
crawlSpr = sPlayerCrawl;
//Moving
face = 1;
moveDir = 0;
moveSpd = 4.5;
xspd = 0;
yspd = 0;
//states
crouching = false;
//Jumping
grav = 0.5;
termVel = 7;
onGround = true;
jumpMax = 1;
jumpCount = 0;
jumpHoldTimer = 0;
//jump values for each successive jump
jumpHoldFrames[0] = 1;
jspd[0] = -9.7;
jumpHoldFrames[1] = 1;
jspd[1] = -9.7;
//Hang Time
hangFrames = 3;
hangTimer = 0;
//Hang Buffer Time
hangJumpFrames = 5;
hangJumpTimer = 0;
//moving Platforms
myFloorPlat = noone;
earlyMovePlatXspd = false;
downSlopeSemiSolid = noone;
moveplatXspd = 0;
moveplatMaxYspd = termVel;
Step event
//Get inputs
getControls()
//Get out of moving Platforms that have positioned themselves into the player in the begin step
#region
var _rightWall = noone;
var _leftWall = noone;
var _bottomWall = noone;
var _topWall = noone;
var _list = ds_list_create();
var _listSize = instance_place_list( x, y, TileMovingTerrain, _list, false );
//loop through all colliding movePlats
for( var i = 0; i < _listSize; i++ )
{
var _listInst = _list[ i];
// find closest walls in each direction
//right walls
if _listInst.bbox_left - _listInst.xspd >= bbox_right-1
{
if !instance_exists(_rightWall) _listInst.bbox_left < _rightWall.bbox_left
{
_rightWall = _listInst;
}
}
//left walls
if _listInst.bbox_right - _listInst.xspd <= bbox_left+1
{
if !instance_exists(_leftWall) _listInst.bbox_right > _leftWall.bbox_right
{
_leftWall = _listInst;
}
}
//floor
if _listInst.bbox_top - _listInst.yspd >= bbox_bottom-1
{
if !_bottomWall _listInst.bbox_top < _bottomWall.bbox_top
{
_bottomWall = _listInst;
}
}
//ceiling
if _listInst.bbox_bottom - _listInst.yspd <= bbox_top+1
{
if !_topWall _listInst.bbox_bottom > _topWall.bbox_bottom
{
_topWall = _listInst;
}
}
}
//destroy the ds list to free memory
ds_list_destroy(_list);
//get out of the walls
//right wall
if instance_exists(_rightWall)
{
var _rightDist = bbox_right - x;
x = _rightWall.bbox_left - _rightDist;
}
//left wall
if instance_exists(_leftWall)
{
var _leftDist = bbox_left + x;
x = _leftWall.bbox_right - _leftDist;
}
//floor
if instance_exists(_bottomWall)
{
var _bottomDist = bbox_bottom - y;
y = _bottomWall.bbox_top + _bottomDist;
}
//ceiling (includes collision for polish and crouching features)
if instance_exists(_topWall)
{
var _upDist = y - bbox_top;
var _targetY = _topWall.bbox_bottom - _upDist;
//check if there isn't a wall in the way
if !place_meeting( x, _targetY, TileTerrain )
{
y = _targetY;
}
}
#endregion
//don't get left behind on a moving platform
earlyMovePlatXspd = false;
if instance_exists ( myFloorPlat ) && myFloorPlat.xspd != 0 && !place_meeting( x, y + moveplatMaxYspd+1, myFloorPlat )
{
//go ahead and put ourselves back onto the platform if there is no wall in the way
if !place_meeting( x + myFloorPlat.xspd, y, TileTerrain )
{
x += myFloorPlat.xspd;
earlyMovePlatXspd = true;
}
}
//crouching
//transition to crouch
//manual
if downKey && instance_exists(myFloorPlat)
{
crouching = true;
}
//forced / automatic
if onGround && place_meeting(x, y, TileTerrain)
{
crouching = true;
}
//change collision mask
if crouching { mask_index = crouchSpr; };
//Transition out of crouching
//Manual
if crouching && !downKey
{
//Check if I can uncrouch
mask_index = idleSpr;
//uncrouch if no Solid wall in the way
if !place_meeting(x, y, TileTerrain)
{
crouching = false;
}
//Go back to crouching if we cant uncrouch
else
{
mask_index = crouchSpr;
}
}
//X movement
//Direction
moveDir = rightKey - leftKey;
//get my face
if moveDir != 0 { face = moveDir; };
//Get xspd
xspd = moveDir * moveSpd;
//X collision
var _subPixel = 1;
if place_meeting( x + xspd, y, TileTerrain )
{
//check if there is a slope to go up
if !place_meeting( x + xspd, y - abs(xspd)-7.5, TileTerrain )
{
while place_meeting( x + xspd, y, TileTerrain ) { y -= _subPixel; };
}
else
//Check for ceiling slope, otherwise, regular collision
{
//Ceiling Slopes
if !place_meeting( x + xspd, y + abs(xspd)+7.5, TileTerrain)
{
while place_meeting( x + xspd, y, TileTerrain) { y += _subPixel; };
}
//Normal collision
else
{
//stop at wall
var _pixelCheck = _subPixel * sign(xspd);
while !place_meeting( x + _pixelCheck, y, TileTerrain ){ x += _pixelCheck; }
//Set xspd to zero to collide
xspd = 0;
}
}
}
//Go Down Slopes
downSlopeSemiSolid = noone;
if yspd >= 0 && !place_meeting( x = xspd, y + 1, TileTerrain ) && place_meeting( x + xspd, y + abs(xspd)+1, TileTerrain )
{
//Check for a semisolid in the way
downSlopeSemiSolid = checkForSemiSolidPlatform( x + xspd, y + abs(xspd)+1, TileTerrain );
//precisely move down slope if there isn't a semisolid in the way
if !instance_exists(downSlopeSemiSolid)
{
while !place_meeting( x + xspd, y + _subPixel, TileTerrain ) {y += _subPixel; };
}
}
//Y movement
//Gravity
if hangTimer > 0
{
//Count the timer down
hangTimer--;
} else {
//apply gravity to the player
yspd += grav;
//no longer on the ground
setOnGround(false);
}
//reset jump variables
if onGround
{
jumpCount = 0;
hangJumpTimer = hangJumpFrames;
} else {
//if the player is in the air, make sure they can't do an extra jump
hangJumpTimer--;
if jumpCount == 0 && hangJumpTimer <= 0 { jumpCount = 1; };
}
//initiate the Jump
if jumpKeyBuffered && jumpCount < jumpMax
{
//Reset the buffer
jumpKeyBuffered = false;
jumpKeyBufferTimer = 0;
//increase number of performed jumps
jumpCount++;
// set the jump hold timer
jumpHoldTimer = jumpHoldFrames[jumpCount-1];
//tell ourselves we're no longer on the ground
setOnGround(false);
hangJumpTimer = 0;
}
//cut off the jump by releasing the jump button
if !jumpKey
{
jumpHoldTimer = 0;
}
//jump based on holding the button
if jumpHoldTimer > 0
{
//constantsly set yspd to jspd
yspd = jspd[jumpCount-1];
//count down the timer
jumpHoldTimer--;
}
//Y collision and movement
//cap falling speed
if yspd > termVel { yspd = termVel };
// Upwards collison (with Ceiling Slopes)
if yspd < 0 && place_meeting( x, y + yspd, TileTerrain )
{
//jump into Sloped ceilings
var _slopeSlide = false;
//slide up left slope
if moveDir == 0 && !place_meeting( x - abs(yspd)-1, y + yspd, TileTerrain )
{
while place_meeting( x, y+yspd, TileTerrain ) { x -= 1; };
_slopeSlide = true;
}
//slide up right slope
if moveDir == 0 && !place_meeting( x - abs(yspd)-1, y + yspd, TileTerrain )
{
while place_meeting( x, y + yspd, TileTerrain ) { x += 1; };
_slopeSlide = true;
}
//Normal Y collision
if !_slopeSlide
{
//stop at wall
var _pixelCheck = _subPixel * sign(yspd);
while !place_meeting( x, y + _pixelCheck, TileTerrain )
{
y += _pixelCheck;
}
//Bonk code
//if yspd < 0 { jumpHoldTimer = 0; };
//Set yspd to 0 to collide
yspd = 0;
}
}
//Downwards collision
//Check for solid and semisolid platforms under me
var _clampYspd = max( 0, yspd );
var _list = ds_list_create(); //Create a DS list to store all of the objects we run into
var _array = array_create(0);
array_push( _array, TileTerrain, TileSemiSolidTerrain );
//do the actual check and add objects to list
var _listSize = instance_place_list( x, y+1 + _clampYspd + moveplatMaxYspd, _array, _list, false );
//loop through the colliding instances and only return one if it's top is below the player
for( var _i = 0; _i < _listSize; _i++ )
{
// Get an instance of TileTerrain or TileSemiSolidTerrain from the list
var _listInst = _list[ _i];
//Avoid magnetism
//if //(_listInst != forgetSemiSolid
if ( _listInst.yspd <= yspd instance_exists(myFloorPlat)
&& ( _listInst.yspd > 0 place_meeting( x, y+1 + _clampYspd, _listInst) ) )
// ( _listInst == _semiSolid )
{
//Return a Solid wall or any Semisolid Walls below the player
if _listInst.object_index == TileTerrain
object_is_ancestor( _listInst.object_index, TileTerrain )
floor ( bbox_bottom ) <= ceil( _listInst.bbox_top - _listInst.yspd )
{
//Return the "highest" wall object
if !instance_exists(myFloorPlat)
_listInst.bbox_top + _listInst.yspd <= myFloorPlat.bbox_top + myFloorPlat.yspd
_listInst.bbox_top + _listInst.yspd <= bbox_bottom
{
myFloorPlat = _listInst;
}
}
}
}
//Destroy the DS list to avoid a memory leak
ds_list_destroy(_list);
//Downslope semisolid for making sure we don't miss semisolids while going down slopes
if instance_exists(downSlopeSemiSolid) { myFloorPlat = downSlopeSemiSolid };
//one last check to make sure the platform is actually below us
if instance_exists(myFloorPlat) && !place_meeting( x, y + moveplatMaxYspd, myFloorPlat)
{
myFloorPlat = noone;
}
//Land on the ground platform if there is one
if instance_exists(myFloorPlat)
{
//stop at wall
while !place_meeting( x, y + _subPixel, myFloorPlat ) && !place_meeting( x, y, TileTerrain ) { y += _subPixel; };
//make sure we don't end up below the top of a semisolid
{
while place_meeting( x, y, myFloorPlat ) { y -= _subPixel; };
}
//Floor the Y variable
y = floor(y);
//Set yspd to 0 to collide
yspd = 0;
setOnGround(true);
}
//move
x += xspd;
if !place_meeting( x, y + yspd, TileTerrain ) { y += yspd; };
y += yspd;
//Final moving platform collisions and movement
//X - moveplatxspd and collison
//Get the moveplatxspd
moveplatXspd = 0;
if instance_exists(myFloorPlat) { moveplatXspd =myFloorPlat.xspd; };
//Move with moveplatxspd
if !earlyMovePlatXspd
{
if place_meeting( x + moveplatXspd, y, TileTerrain )
{
//stop at wall
var _subPixel = .5;
var _pixelCheck = _subPixel * sign(moveplatXspd);
while !place_meeting( x + _pixelCheck, y, TileTerrain )
{
x += _pixelCheck;
}
}
}
// Y - Snap myself to myFloorPlat if it's moving vertically (un floor y variable)
if instance_exists(myFloorPlat)
&& (myFloorPlat.yspd != 0
myFloorPlat.object_index == TileMovingTerrain
object_is_ancestor(myFloorPlat.object_index, TileMovingTerrain)
myFloorPlat.object_index == TileSemiSolidMoveTerrain
object_is_ancestor(myFloorPlat.object_index, TileSemiSolidMoveTerrain) )
{
//Snap to the top of the floor platform
if !place_meeting( x, myFloorPlat.bbox_top, TileTerrain )
&& myFloorPlat.bbox_top >= bbox_bottom-moveplatMaxYspd
{
y = myFloorPlat.bbox_top;
}
/*/going up into a wall while on a semisolid platform
if myFloorPlat.yspd < 0 && place_meeting(x, y + myFloorPlat.yspd, TileTerrain)
{
//get pushed down through the semisolid floor platform
if myFloorPlat.object_index == TileSemiSolidTerrain object_is_ancestor( myFloorPlat.object_index, TileSemiSolidTerrain )
{
//get pushed down throughh the semisolid
while place_meeting( x, y+myFloorPlat.yspd, TileTerrain ) { y += _subPixel; };
//If we got pushed into a solid wall while going downwards, push ourselves back out
while place_meeting( x, y, TileTerrain ) { y -= _subPixel; };
y = round(y);
}
//Cancel the myFloorPlat variable
setOnGround(false);
}/*/
}
//Get pushed down through a semisolid by a moving Solid platform
if instance_exists(myFloorPlat)
&& ( myFloorPlat.object_index == TileSemiSolidTerrain object_is_ancestor(myFloorPlat.object_index, TileSemiSolidTerrain) )
&& place_meeting( x, y, TileTerrain )
{
//If I'm already stuck in a wall at this point, try and move me down to get below a semisolid
//If I'm still stuck afterwards, that just means I've been properly "crushed"
//Also, don't check too far, we don't want to warp below walls
var _maxPushDist = 10; //fastest move downwards
var _pushedDist = 0;
var _startY = y;
while place_meeting( x, y, TileTerrain) && _pushedDist <= _maxPushDist
{
y++;
_pushedDist++;
}
//forget my floorplat
myFloorPlat = false;
//if I'm still in a wall at this point, take me back to start
if _pushedDist > _maxPushDist { y = _startY; };
}
//check for crushing
if place_meeting( x, y, TileTerrain )
{
image_blend = c_blue;
}
//Mach Running
//Sprite Control
//Walking
if xspd > 0 { sprite_index = walkSpr; };
if xspd < 0 { sprite_index = walkSpr; };
//Not moving
if xspd == 0 { sprite_index = idleSpr; };
//In the air
if !onGround { sprite_index = jumpSpr; };
//Falling
if !onGround && yspd == termVel { sprite_index = fallSpr; };
//Crouching
if crouching { sprite_index = crouchSpr; };
//crawling
if xspd !=0 && crouching { sprite_index = crawlSpr; };
//set the collision mask
mask_index = idleSpr;
if crouching { mask_index = crouchSpr; };
​
Draw event
draw_sprite_ext( sprite_index, image_index, x, y, image_xscale*face, image_yscale, image_angle, image_blend, image_alpha );
​
Functions
function controlsSetup()
{
bufferTime = 3;
jumpKeyBuffered = 0;
jumpKeyBufferTimer = 0;
}
function getControls()
{
//Direction inputs
rightKey = keyboard_check(ord("D"));
rightKey = clamp( rightKey, 0, 3 );
leftKey = keyboard_check(ord("A"));
leftKey = clamp( leftKey, 0, 3 );
downKey = keyboard_check(ord("S"));
//Action inputs
jumpKeyPressed = keyboard_check_pressed( vk_space );
jumpKeyPressed = clamp( jumpKeyPressed, 0, 1 );
jumpKey = keyboard_check( vk_space );
jumpKey = clamp( jumpKey, 0, 1 );
//Jump key buffering
if jumpKeyPressed
{
jumpKeyBufferTimer = bufferTime;
}
if jumpKeyBufferTimer > 0
{
jumpKeyBuffered = 1;
jumpKeyBufferTimer--;
} else {
jumpKeyBuffered = 0;
}
}
function semiSolidCheck(_x, _y)
{
//Create a return variable
var _rtrn = noone;
//we must not be moving upwards and then we must check for a normal collision
if yspd >= 0 && place_meeting( _x, _y, TileSemiSolidTerrain )
{
//create a DS list to store all colliding instances of TileSemiSolidTerrain
var _list = ds_list_create();
var _listSize = instance_place_list( _x, _y, TileSemiSolidTerrain, _list, false );
//Loop through the colliding instances and only return one if it's top is below the player
for( var i = 0; i < _listSize; i++ )
{
var _listInst = _list[ i];
if floor(bbox_bottom) <= ceil( _listInst.bbox_top - _listInst.yspd )
{
//Return the id of a semisolid platform
_rtrn = _listInst;
//Exit the loop early
i = _listSize;
}
}
//destroy ds list to free memory
ds_list_destroy(_list);
}
//Return our variable
return _rtrn;
}

I am curious if any of you guys were obsessed with attending the Ivy Plus (Ivy League + MIT, Stanford, Duke, Caltech, or Chicago) because for my (43M) son (currently 13M) who was diagnosed with autism at age 3 and could not speak until 3 and a half years old, during his time at elementary school until we moved to a bigger house in late 2022 in 6th grade, he got straight A's except in English/PE. Even though his English grades hovered between A-/B+ since 5th grade, it has significantly improved from a C+/B- when he was in 1st grade. During elementary school, he was even in advanced math (one grade level ahead), got straight A in that class, and he also won some school/district wide awards in STEM. He has won a district wide math award, a regional engineering award, as well as win the school's Geography Bee. Once we and the school helped pull him out of a special ed homeroom during the middle of kindergarten (around January 2017) to a mainstream homeroom (he is still on an IEP however), he nonetheless caught out and his behavior has massively improved. Starting 1st grade in 2017, we started buying him supplementary workbooks so he could learn English, Math, and Science during his free time and he was quite good at it. Even though he is a bit weaker in ELA, he nonetheless shown massive interest in STEM fields, such as math, chemistry (he took a glance at the periodic table when he was 6), physics (he loved reading Physics and Space/Astronomy books), engineering, and of course, technology, where his favorite thing to do is to use the computer. He started becoming obsessed with technology/computers at around 5 years old, and due to the fact we have multiple computers, he started knowing the basics about macOS, Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP at the time. In fact, he also learned about the basics of iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod), and Android, and his passions on computers deepened when he watched a video on "Every Windows Startup Sound". When we were 5, we also bought him a globe where he basically explores various countries and their capitals during his free time, and we bought him large sheets of paper at Walmart showing all 45 presidents, the times and division table (up to 12), the Solar System, the periodic table, and the human anatomy. We also bought him a visual dictionary and he really loved reading it. Despite the fact he only took one advanced course, he was 2-4 grade levels ahead, often using the supplementary books we bought for him to learn and he finished these books in a matter of weeks.
Even though we are totally fine with him attending community college, ever since he was 7, he has been dreaming of attending HYPSM universities, knowing that many of the people he aspire to such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Larry Ellison attended some of those top schools. During my son's free time, he loves to watch tech videos, science/history documentaries, learn computer programming (Java, C++, C, Python, Swift, Kotlin, Go, Ruby, R, etc), and explore around with technology and computers. He has been infatuated with computers since he was 5 and would spend hours tinkering around with technology. We even hired a piano tutor for him and even though the piano tutor mostly helps with his fingers/notation, he has self taught and memorized some pieces such as Claire De Lune, Arabesque, Waltz No 7, Grande valse brillante, Moonlight Sonata 1st/2nd movement, Mozart Fantasy No 4, and Schubert Impromptu Op 90 no 2 in a matter of months or even weeks. In Summer of 2022, he even won a piano competition in Boston. Even though we don't pressure him, he is very self motivated and wanted to be at the pinnacle.
By the time he reached 2nd grade, we started taking him to piano lessons, and that was where he developed an interest for classical music, making classical music his favorite genre. He even studied various composers, including some medieval (Hildegard von Bingen) and renaissance (Josquin Des Prez) as well as baroque (Bach), classical (Mozart), romantic (Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin), and modern (Debussy, Ravel) ones as well. Also by this point, we started buying him 4/5th grade math books and science books and his 1st grade teacher even gave him a high school US history and World history textbook and he enjoyed reading several pages of it per day to explore various historical events, such as Louis XIV, Napoleon, the Dutch East India company, the European Scramble of Africa, the Weimar Republic, and US reconstruction after the Civil War. By this time, he was also obsessed with figures such as Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Galileo Galilei, Leonardo Da Vinci, Rene Descartes, Jean Jacques Rousseau, and current tech entrepreneurs Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison, and Elon Musk. Basically, after a year of playing piano at 8, he started playing pieces such as Mozart Facile Sonata No 16, Mozart Turkish March, Beethoven Fur Elise, Bach Prelude No 1, and Beethoven Ecossaise. Also, the most important thing happened in his life by the time and that is, he started learning how to install various VMs on Virtualbox/VMware, and the year after at 8 years old, he was introduced to programming by his older cousin (something that will change his life), where he started learning HTML and CSS first, then moved on to JavaScript and Python, and afterwards, to Java and now, he is learning C, C++, Swift, Kotlin, and and R on his own on Udemy and edX and is currently working on a mobile game.
In 3rd grade, the school principal realized my son was very smart in math and after my son asked the principal to be put to advanced math, he was put in a 4th grade classroom for math. He essentially excelled in that class, and in one instance during 4th grade in a 5th grade math homeroom in early 2021, he was the only student out of 25 to receive over an 80 on one test (he received a 95) and therefore, he was the only student who didn't have to retake the exam. Even though the 4th grade teacher back in 2019 really wanted him to be in her science and social studies and he excelled on those, showing my wife and I extremely high grades, the principal and 3rd grade homeroom teacher didn't authorize the move, instead insisting on making him stay in the 3rd grade for these two subjects which made him kinda unhappy. By the time he reached 4th grade when the grading system got changed from numbers to letters, whenever you get an A in conduct and effort in every class, you get to eat ice cream every quarter in the cafeteria and eat pizza at a local Pizza store every June. Turns out, my son got an A in conduct and effort in every class in every quarter, even in English and PE, where he would usually get a B to A- grade but an A in conduct and effort. Also, despite the fact my son is weak in English, he nonetheless got his grade up from a C/C+ (equivalent to a 2) during 1st grade to a B/B+ during 6th grade (2022). The school started enrolling students in FirstInMath during 4th grade and during 4th grade, my son would play some math games and learn math along the way, and he essentially scored higher than any student at his school and amongst the top in his school district, and by the end of 4th grade, my son had some knowledge in Algebra/Pre-Algebra already. During 5th grade in early 2022, my son won the school's science fair where he developed an LED glove and he was inducted to the local science museum to compete with 5-8 graders in his county. He was ready to do the next big project in Robotics and computer science during 6th grade but because we moved to another district next door by buying a bigger house, he wasn't able to continue. In the early half of 6th grade when he was still at the old district, everybody at his school (4-6th grade only, no K3) was made to take the Geography Bee for the first time, and he came out as a winner and was inducted to a county-wide tournament (again, for another subject). Even though he couldn't map every single country (some obscure island nations in the Pacific), he could nonetheless map every European/Asian/North/South American country and list the capitals of every European country and most Asian/North/South American countries. He even won a county-wide math award as well early in his 6th grade. He has gotten perfect math MCAS scores during 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade, but his ELA hovered around Partially Meeting Expectations and Meeting Expectations and has not taken the MCAS since. During summer 2022, before 6th grade and right after his 11th birthday, he also registered to a music competition at the NE Conservatory in Boston where he actually won against 11 year olds playing Mozart Fantasy No 4 and Chopin Grande Valse Brilliante. Even though we have a piano tutor for my son who mostly helps with his fingers/notation, he has self taught and memorized some pieces such as Claire De Lune, Arabesque, Waltz No 7, Grande valse brillante, Moonlight Sonata 1st/2nd movement, Mozart Fantasy No 4, and Schubert Impromptu Op 90 no 2 in a matter of months or even weeks. Even though we don't pressure him, he is very self motivated and wanted to be at the pinnacle.
After starting online school and moving to my uncle and aunt's house in Quincy in February 2023 because he wanted to push himself further, he started with the 2nd half of 6th grade and 7th grade math at an online self paced school he wanted to attend to try to accelerate his education and by mid-April, he started the 7th grade and Algebra. By mid-August, he finished that and took a month break, travelling to Europe (Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Ljubljana, Salzburg, and Munich) with my uncle (78M) and aunt (76F). In October, he started 8th grade and took Geometry/Algebra II and even though he got straight A, his English grades actually did improve to an A- at the online school, and by mid-January, he started the 9th grade as well as Pre-Calculus while waiting for his 65k private school to answer to him.
My uncle and aunt is also talking to the online school about allowing his 9th grade credits to transfer (he does take some courses at a local community college in the meantime to make himself more competitive and to help those transfer as 9th grade credits). I have heard that my son is looking at SAT content and doing some practice problems for the SAT, looking up AP courses he will take during 10th grade like AP World History, AP Calculus BC, AP Computer Science A, AP Chemistry, AP Physics C, AP French, etc, and he is also looking at the possibility of taking Multivariable Calculus and LineaAbstract Algebra in alter years. He has also thought about joining several STEM related clubs at the new school and joining the student government at his future school, and is considering hard on AMC 12, currently working on some AMC 12 problems as well as looking up IMO, USACO, USAPhO, USNCO, as well as Intel's ISEF.

I've been fascinated with the Dragon Age universe for quite some time, but I never got to play Origins (the best one according to many people), and generally speaking I'm not an expert on CRPGs by any means. Due to Origins and 2 not being playable on modern consoles (though I still have a ps3 so I can buy those versions), I've bought and played Inquisition, the third game and the one that is known for being maybe too big for its own good.
At the moment I have 36 hours in the game: I only need to do the final mission to finish the story, and then obviously there is still quite a lot of extra content to do, including DLCs.
My experience with the game is generally positive, though I have a few gripes. One of them is the movement, it's kind of sloppy and while you get used to it, sometimes it's really awkward when you try to traverse spaces with a lot of verticality (and there are many of them in the game).
Let's talk about the combat. I've seen people say it's an action RPG, but really it's more of a slightly more dynamic and flashy version of your typical CRPG combat, you can't really dodge attacks or perform combos with your weapon. Instead, you can attack your enemy, or use some combat abilities that you equip and then cast consuming a vigor bar that regens automatically, as well as waiting for the cooldowns of said abilities (stronger abilities will have longer cooldowns, of course). Which abilities (and weapons) you get depends of your character and build. The build variety seems good honestly, I'm going with a two-handed Champion Warrior at the moment (on a female elf chatacter) but other options seem really cool as well. This is also a party-based game, so you can switch to your companions to try their style of combat.
Speaking of companions, their AI is... pretty dumb at times. You can give them orders but they're very basic from what I've seen, so it's still kind of an issue (especially if you're playing on higher difficulties).
Now let's get to the spicy part of the game: the open world (as in, big maps you freely roam in). This game is known for having lots of side content, and it's... very hit or miss. Now, I will say that sometimes it is surprisingly great. Some quests lead you to side dungeons that flesh out the world/lore really well, some others are there to flesh out the characters, and then there are some cool secrets around the world, as in mysterious places not marked on the map until you get there, which is something I love in this type of game.
And then there are... lots of fetch quests and collectibles (that I'm now ignoring because fuck that noise), and I mean A LOT. Like really, every time I finish a quest that asked me to fetch some materials, a new one appears. It's the main issue with the game, and it makes getting 100% on the maps a slog. Fade rifts are repetitive as well, but at least they're basically small combat challenges so it's still a lot more fun than gathering 15x random plant or stuff like that. It doesn't help that in order to start the main missions you basically have to do some of the side content to grind power for the inquisition (as well as some levels for your character). It reminds me a lot of Tales of Xillia 2, where to progress the story you need to have enough money, so you're forced to do the terrible side quests that game has.
Getting to the story and characters... they're pretty good, but what's most impressive to me is the worldbuilding and lore: this is without exageration one of the most detailed fantasy worlds I've ever seen, and most of the lore is really interesting, it has some unique ideas compared to other similar worlds.
So yeah, I'll try to wrap this up with a classic pros and cons list. Overall I'd say it's a really solid game that could have been amazing with less bloat in the open world maps. As it is, it's still very much worth playing in my opinion, but not really worth to try and go for the 100% or platinum.
PROS: - very deep lore and worldbuilding with a pretty good main story - good build variety - SOME of the side quests and secrets - a lot of visual variety between the maps, that I forgot to mention - the combat, kinda (nothing too amazing, but it works)
CONS: - sloppy movement at times - lots of absolutely boring fetch quests and collectibles
Keep in mind that I haven't actually finished the game yet, though I'm very close, this is more of a "first impression" of sorts. Also, I'm very much interested in trying out at least DA Origins.

The absolute ultimate in performance based enhancement packages is here and available! Head over to the website for more details and pricing! Contact us to get on the list and turn your current pistol in the gun you want and deserve. First 10 guns receive special promotional pricing!
Virāgō

 Latin; meaning "vigorous maiden”, reflecting heroism and exemplary qualities of masculinity; indicating a woman who is masculine to the exclusion of traditional feminine virtues. The Virāgō Package takes your currently owned 1911 and/or 2011 pistol from its current condition and brings it to full Marvel spec custom quality perfection! This results in your Virāgō pistol being the most accurate, reliable, and long-lasting pistol for far less time and money than obtaining a Marvel spec custom pistol. Your Virāgō package starts with tightening up the slide to frame fit by having a set of Acc-U-Rails fit to your pistol. This ensures that the slide is moving with only the necessary up and down and side to side movement, creating an environment allowing your properly fit barrel to start and return from a consistent lock-up each and every time. The front of your barrel (not applicable to Island barrels or front sight block barrels) is then modified so that it can be refit to a half thousandths tolerance ensuring that it is being held tightly and consistently when locked up. Your Virāgō comes with a new hand-tuned slide stop, which your barrel legs are hand-fit to, so that there is as close as possible to 100% bearing surface fit between the barrel legs and slide stop pin. When locked up, your barrel legs will rest in a repeatable and consistent manner on the slide stop pin with maximum interface and minimal interference. Your Virāgō also receives our Complete Custom Trigger Job which includes all new purposely-selected and hand-tuned ignition components, as well as a new skeletonized trigger cut to your desired length and set to your desired weight, for one of the most superior feeling triggers in the industry. Your Virāgō will also receive the complete Enhanced Performance Package tuning nearly every other part of the gun to Marvel specs which allows your pistol to achieve its full potential in accuracy and reliability allowing your Virāgō to provide years of unparalleled performance and enjoyment. Your Virāgō receives a 200 round test fire to confirm accuracy and function. After all work is completed, your barrel, hammer, hammer strut, slide stop, magazine catch, magazine catch lock, trigger and both Accu-u-Rails are then coated in DLC for a matte black finish. Each Virāgō is issued its own number and will wear the Mercier Pistol Works logo with your “V#” on the hood of your barrel (an unmarked version is available at customer request). A letter of authenticity with important measurements along with special Virāgō swag accompanies each Mercier Pistol Works Virāgō 

The absolute ultimate in performance based enhancement packages is here and available! Head over to the website for more details and pricing! Contact us to get on the list and turn your current pistol in the gun you want and deserve. First 10 guns receive special promotional pricing!
Virāgō

 Latin; meaning "vigorous maiden”, reflecting heroism and exemplary qualities of masculinity; indicating a woman who is masculine to the exclusion of traditional feminine virtues. The Virāgō Package takes your currently owned 1911 and/or 2011 pistol from its current condition and brings it to full Marvel spec custom quality perfection! This results in your Virāgō pistol being the most accurate, reliable, and long-lasting pistol for far less time and money than obtaining a Marvel spec custom pistol. Your Virāgō package starts with tightening up the slide to frame fit by having a set of Acc-U-Rails fit to your pistol. This ensures that the slide is moving with only the necessary up and down and side to side movement, creating an environment allowing your properly fit barrel to start and return from a consistent lock-up each and every time. The front of your barrel (not applicable to Island barrels or front sight block barrels) is then modified so that it can be refit to a half thousandths tolerance ensuring that it is being held tightly and consistently when locked up. Your Virāgō comes with a new hand-tuned slide stop, which your barrel legs are hand-fit to, so that there is as close as possible to 100% bearing surface fit between the barrel legs and slide stop pin. When locked up, your barrel legs will rest in a repeatable and consistent manner on the slide stop pin with maximum interface and minimal interference. Your Virāgō also receives our Complete Custom Trigger Job which includes all new purposely-selected and hand-tuned ignition components, as well as a new skeletonized trigger cut to your desired length and set to your desired weight, for one of the most superior feeling triggers in the industry. Your Virāgō will also receive the complete Enhanced Performance Package tuning nearly every other part of the gun to Marvel specs which allows your pistol to achieve its full potential in accuracy and reliability allowing your Virāgō to provide years of unparalleled performance and enjoyment. Your Virāgō receives a 200 round test fire to confirm accuracy and function. After all work is completed, your barrel, hammer, hammer strut, slide stop, magazine catch, magazine catch lock, trigger and both Accu-u-Rails are then coated in DLC for a matte black finish. Each Virāgō is issued its own number and will wear the Mercier Pistol Works logo with your “V#” on the hood of your barrel (an unmarked version is available at customer request). A letter of authenticity with important measurements along with special Virāgō swag accompanies each Mercier Pistol Works Virāgō